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TORONTO, Canada, July 24, 2015 – Brazil demolished Puerto Rico
in straight sets 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-23) in just 1 hour and 19
minutes advancing to the title match at the men’s volleyball
tournament of the Pan American Games to be played next Sunday at
Toronto Exhibition Center.
It will be a South American classic battle for the gold as
Argentina had booked earlier its spot in the deciding contest.
It was a complete dominance from start to finish by the two-time
defending champions who outscored Puerto Rico team in attacks
44-29, blocks 9-1 and aces 5-2. The Brazilians made 24 unforced
errors to 17 by the losers.
Renan Buiatti and Douglas Souza led Brazil with 16 and 13
points, respectively. Mauricio Silva finished with 9 in the
victory while Mauricio de Souza and Otavio Pinto charted 7 and 6
points for Brazil.
Hector Soto was the only Puerto Rican with double figures in the
game with 11 points.
Leonaldo Roberley, Coach of Brazil: “This was part of an
accomplished mission. The team played very well. We stayed
positive as we were very aggressive with our serves and put a
lot of pressure. We blocked, attacked and controlled the ball
pretty well. Our both systems worked all right. We struggled a
little bit in the third set as they recovered and showed a good
game, and our experience gave a good balance. We have to keep
working for the next and final match.”
Otavio Pinto, Player of Brazil: “I didn’t imagine that this
match could be easily won this way. We used all our force and
power to achieve this victory. We gained a lot of confidence as
we had a very good and solid attack. They tried to get closer in
the third set. Our blocking game was effective. That was so
important to us”.
Javier Gaspar, Coach of Puerto Rico: “We knew this match was
going to be very difficult as you could see the difference of
the biotypes. The height, approach and power are different. We
worked with our pass by controlling their serves, but we could
not spike the ball with the consistency shown by a team like
Brazil. However our guys kept fighting, so I am satisfied with
their effort, but obviously Brazil did an excellent job by
reading our offense.”
Hector Soto, Captain of Puerto Rico: “There is not a lot to say.
We tried to serve fast and put pressure against them. We were
very consistent in that, but they received very well and it was
more difficult for us to counter attack on their side out. And
we were not as effective as we were during the tournament.” |
