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CHIAPAS, México, 6 de junio,
2009.-
The last match of the day
featured one of the most classic confrontations
of the region. Puerto Rico claimed a victory in
straight sets over hosts Mexico to keep its
unbeaten record in Pool B of the Fourth Pan
American Cup. The sets scores of the match that
lasted 102 minutes were 33-31, 25-23, 25-21.
Both teams had strong offensive
exchanges but the field defense of Puerto Rico
was better. In the crucial moments of each set
the winners’ counterattacks were the key for the
triumph.
“The result does not speak about
the hard match it was. We played hard against a
great team. I think our second offensive options
and the strong attacks of Victor (Bird) were
fundamentals for the outcome,” said Fernando
Morales, the captain of Puerto Rico.
Meanwhile, the coach of Mexico,
Jorge Azair, considered the defensive work of
his team was not the better. “We didn’t have the
best defense and Puerto Rico took advantage. It
was a strong game, but also we had lack of
experience in our game.”
Víctor Bird was the best scorer
of the match for Puerto Rico with 29 points,
Ivan Pérez had 15 and Juan Figueroa added 13.
Leonardo Manzo was the only Mexican in double
figures with 14 tallies. |
