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DURANGO, Mexico, August 18, 2021. - Puerto Rico
started the Men’s NORCECA Continental
Championship with a straight set win 3-0 (25-22,
25-20, 25-19) over Canada at the Auditorio del
Pueblo in Durango, Mexico.
Outside hitter Pelegrin Vargas and opposite
Gabriel García led Puerto Rico with 11 points
apiece; Vargas on 8 kills and 3 blocks, García
also on 8 kills and 3 aces.
Opposite Xander Ketrzynski was Canada’s top
scorer with 12 points on 10 kills, one block and
one ace, followed by outside hitter Brandon
Koppers with 11 points.
Puerto Rico held a 32-29 attacking advantage, in
blocks both teams scored 7 points and Canada led
5-4 in serves. Puerto Rico committed 18 unforced
errors while Canada finished with 34.
Puerto Rico´s (1-0) next opponent is Mexico and
Canada’s (0-1) is Trinidad and Tobago.
Arturo Iglesias, Captain of Puerto Rico: “To
start with a 3-0 win against a world level team
like Canada give us confidence. We were very
patient when things weren’t working, we were
aggressive and we weren’t worried of what was
happening on the other side”.
Oswald Antonetti, Coach of Puerto Rico: “Winning
gives confidence to the group; this is like a
sand watch, feeding from each play, from each
change of the ball and the teams’ growth. I
believe in this group, they play good volleyball
and are motivated to improve. The instructions
to adjust were simple”.
James Walsh, Captain of Canada: “It’s never fun
to lose but we can learn a lot from this game
and we are excited to improve for our next
match. Puerto Rico’s serves was a lot better
than ours, they made less mistakes than we did,
in volleyball that’s what it comes down to”.
Larry McKay, Coach of Canada: “My team’s
performance was good and we will get better.
Puerto Rico was better in every area, they
played better volleyball overall than we did”.
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