Puerto Rico struggles to defeat Guatemala

PONCE, Puerto Rico, 15 de mayo de 2024.- Puerto Rico struggled to defeat Guatemala 3-1 (25-13, 26-24, 24-26, 25-21) and secure their second victory.

Puerto Rico leads group B with 2-0 record and will end pool-play against Dominican Republic (1-1). Guatemala, with 0-2, will face Costa Rica (1-1).

The host team had no trouble winning the first set, but in the following sets, they followed Guatemala’s system of play and struggled to close the match.

Thanks to a significant advantage in blocking (15-5) and effective kills (54-38), Puerto Rico overpowered Guatemala. Puerto Rico also had the advantage in serving (9-6) but committed more unforced errors (35-22).

Three players from Puerto Rico registered double digits, outside hitters Jean Paul González (18pts) and Gustavo Alvarez (16pts), followed by middle blocker Jorge Suárez (13pts).

Brothers Boris and Jorge González, both outside hitters, scored 12 and 11 points respectively for Guatemala. Opposite hitter Luis Mendizabal contributed 10 points.

Carlos De Sevilla, Head Coach of Puerto Rico: “When the opponent’s game rhythm changes, the team must adapt, and we didn’t know how to do it. It was a game of many errors, especially forced errors. We need to improve against teams that don’t apply service pressure, that play a slow game; we couldn’t adapt. I’m not satisfied. We need to practice hard”.

Luis Fernando Castańeda, Head Coach of Guatemala: “It was an interesting game. Yesterday we could have won, and today the boys came with greater desire. We tried to do our best despite missing players who couldn’t be here due to visa problems; it has been complex. Tomorrow is a match that we have to prepare well for against Costa Rica”.