Puerto Rico stomps Saint Lucia

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, July 29, 2014 - Puerto Rico crushed Saint Lucia, 25-10, 25-15, 25-10 on Tuesday to open Pool B action in the 2014 NORCECA Men’s U21 Continental Championship.

Four Puerto Rican players -Roberto Pérez, Jon Rivera, Reyli Calderón and Jassiel Cruz- all finished with 6 points. Anfernee Ferdinand and Keiran President also had six points for Saint Lucia.

Puerto Rico also led in kills (36-18) and aces (8-1) and scored 27 points on Saint Lucia’s errors while committing 18. Saint Lucia (0-1) will play Canada at 4 p.m. CT in Pool B on Wednesday while Puerto Rico will rest and will play Canada at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Quotes:

Kevin Norville, Saint Lucia’s Captain: “We were not ready for the first game, however we fought so much, we were fine in our debut. We expect to be better and to continue growing as players in the tournament. We didn't have experience, but that’s why we are here, we want  to improve.”

Elvin Germain, Saint Lucia’s Coach: “I liked the attitude and I liked what I saw in the game, courage, determination, nobody thinks we can win one match here, but the players went out with a lot of determination. My work will be when we go back home, to adjust our game to the fast style they have here, and try to improve.”

Brian Negrón, Puerto Rico’s Captain: “I feel that it is a good start, a victory is a victory. For moments we were too comfortable but then we pushed harder and didn’t have problems. The best we had was the motivation, even though it was an easy match, we didn’t lose the attitude”.

Juan Avilés, Puerto Rico’s Coach: “It is always important to win the first match. We used  all players in the match, tested some situations and they did a good job. I am happy with the game and we expect good things ahead.”