Puerto Rico comes back to beat Mexico

GATINEAU, CANADA. Aug. 23, 2024:  Puerto Rico re-grouped after losing the first set to beat Mexico in four today at Men’s Final Six at the Slush Puppie Centre arena in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

The final score was 1-3 (25-18, 26-28, 19-25, 20-25).

Although Mexico was more aggressive on attack points (52-46) and had a couple more ace serves (8-6); Puerto Rico out-blocked its opponent (17-8) and made fewer errors (22-27).

Opposite Jamal Ellis Carballo was impressive for the winning side with 31 points (24 attacks, four blocks, and three aces).

Franky Hernández Milantony led for Mexico on the scoresheet with 17 points (including four aces).

This was Puerto Rico’s first win of the tournament; Mexico has a 2-2 record.

Puerto Rico Head Coach Oswald Antonetti Cameron said: “It’s a very young group that have been playing and training together for a couple of years now. It’s difficult when you have a team at this level when the players are 18-20 years old. We started slow but we are growing through the tournament. We have a mentality of growth and hopefully we will just keep getting better.”