Canada edged Puerto Rico in five sets
MONTERREY, Mexico, December 18, 2007.- Canada edged a resilient
Puerto Rico in five sets to even its record at 1-1 in Pool A of
the Norceca Women’s Qualification Tournament. The score was 25-22,
25-21, 22-25, 18-25, 16-14.
Tasha Holness was the best Canadian with 18 points, including 8
blocks, while Stacey Gordon and Tammy Mahon added 17 and 14
respectively. Puerto Rican Sarai Alvarez led all the scorers with
27 points and siblings Aury and Eva Cruz added 16 and 11.
“We played well during the first two sets but then Puerto Rico
came back strong. The fifth set was a battle point by point. We
are happy with this victory and we are not going to stop here,”
said Naoki Miyashita, the coach of Canada.
“We were over anxious in the first two sets and they combined
well. We missed with our serves during the first two sets but then
we recovered,” said Juan Carlos Nunez, the Puerto Rican coach. “We
improved in the rest of the game which was very close and at the
end, Canada pulled out the win.”
In a close battle during the first set, Canada prevailed 25-22
with the blocking of Tasha Holness, who rejected three kills and
had one ace among her six points, and the spikes of Shelley
Chalmers and Tammy Mahon.
Puerto Rico battled back behind Ania Ruiz to make close what was a
one-side set halfway into the second set. Stacey Gordon twice came
up for Canada with solid spikes to give her side new life and the
eventual win 25-21.
The sides engaged in a tough battle in the third set won by Puerto
Rico 25-22. With the score tied at 21-all, Aury Cruz emerged with
three consecutive points, including a big block, to put her team
on the path to the triumph.
Sarai Alvarez was spectacular in the fourth with nine points
forcing a tie-breaker as Puerto Rico took the set 25-18.
The fifth set was a seesaw battle with the decisive point in
favour of Canada when Puerto Rican Alvarez stepped on the line
while attacking from the back side.