Puerto Rico to play Costa Rica for fifth place

AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico, June 22, 2018. - Puerto Rico beat Honduras 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 16-25, 25-13) and will play Costa Rica for fifth place of the Women’s NORCECA U20 Championship in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Puerto Rico will face Central American champions Costa Rica for fifth place and Guatemala meets Honduras in the last day of the event on Saturday.

Puerto Rico controlled the first set starting with a comfortable 10-5 lead. In set two, Honduras pushed harder with effective blocking, but still Puerto Rico took the advantage. Honduras took Puerto Rico by surprise winning set three with a consistent blocking and spirited performance. Puerto Rico used their force while serving to dominate Honduras’ momentum coming out of winning the third set.

Puerto Rico’s 45-33 advantage in kills and huge 12-3 margin in aces was enough to stop Honduras’ 6-5 advantage in blocking. Both teams committed 30 unforced errors.

Middle blocker Jaylibeth led Puerto Rico with 14 points, followed by wing spiker Paulina Perez who only completed sets one and four with 10 points. Wing spiker Nathaly Perez topped Honduras with 16 points.

Middle blocker Jaylibeth García of Puerto Rico: “Despite of not advancing into semifinals, we played with lots of energy and the same motivation since the beginning of the tournament. Honduras found a way to grab a set, but we recovered well. We must work harder in our passing and defense”.

Rafael Olazagasti head coach of Puerto Rico: “The only way my team can develop is theat everyone has a chance to play; our goal wasn’t only to reach the finals but to contribute in forming new players. This category is our platform for Puerto Rico’s future players. I made variations, it’s the system I’ve been using during the tournament, but I had confidence that my starters would bring a positive result. We lost the third set, but we finished the fourth by huge margin”.

Osiel Vásquez head coach of Honduras: “We are aware that there are five teams with much higher level than the three Central Americans. My opponent made changes, they played at our game level and we were able to win a set. We fought strongly; we couldn’t score more because we just can’t, but we´re happy with the result. This competition has been very important for our preparation for the upcoming Central American championship. Tomorrow we face Guatemala and our strategy is be offensive in with our serves and attack hard”.