Puerto Rico advances to final round in Tokyo

 

SENDAI, Japan, November 28, 2006.- Puerto Rico beat Canada in straight sets on Tuesday to improve their record to 2-4 in Pool E and ensure a place in the final round of the FIVB Men’s World Championship.

 

Led by tournament top scorer Hector Soto with another dazzling performance, Puerto Rico won 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 leaving Canada at 1-5 and securing a place in the Tokyo playoffs. Soto hammered 18 points, Victor Rivera added 12 and Luis Rodriguez scored 10 points. Paul Duerden was the best Canadian with 14 points.

 

Carlos Cardona, Puerto Rican coach: “I'm satisfied that we won in straight sets. However, I think we could have played better than we did today. Also, the Canadian team could have played better. Both sides made many errors today. The match was really intense. What we have to do from now is keep our style when we play games and we are not giving up on our dream to finish in the top 10.”

 

Glenn Hoag, Canadian coach: “We left three important players in Canada a week before coming to Japan. So, our team has young players that don't have the experience. We obviously showed our weaknesses with reception in the second round and we have been making a lot of mistakes in that area.”

 

In Hiroshima, USA won their first match of Pool F with a closely fought 3-2 victory over Germany. The Americans battled hard for a 30-28, 15-25, 24-26, 26-24, 15-13 victory that improved their win-loss record in the group to 2-4.

 

The win enhanced the United States' chances of qualifying for the play-offs, coming two days after they took France to five sets. They play their final match of the second round against Cuba on Wednesday.

 

Hugh McCutcheon, USA head coach: “We are very happy with the win. It has been a tough tournament for us.  We played good at times and also we played badly but it just happened that on the final point at the end the momentum was with us. Consistency is still an issue but we are looking forward to our next match against Cuba."

 

Americans David McKinzie and Riley Salmon each had 19 points and James Polster and Reid Priddy added 11 tallies apiece.

 

Finally, Cuba earned their much-desired first win with a difficult 3-1 victory over the Czech Republic.  The Cubans had to endure four closely fought sets before emerging 31-29, 26-24, 24-26, 26-24 winners as they clung on to their hopes of qualifying for a top six position in the group and advance to the play-offs in Tokyo.

 

Their victory improves their win-loss record to 1-5, and now must win their final match against the United States by a comfortable margin on Wednesday to stand a chance of progressing on points-ratio.

 

Roberto Garcia, Cuban coach: “Congratulations to the Czech team. We knew it was a difficult game but we played good block and defense. They would score one point and then we'd score a point, it was that kind of game. The United States are in a better position to qualify than us but we still will give our best in that match.”

 

Michael Sanchez led five Cubans in double digits with 22 points, Raydel Corrales had 19, Robertlandy Simon added 12, and Oreol Camejo and Odelvys Dominico each had 11 points.