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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 15, 2021
– Puerto Rico will meet Mexico in the match for
the gold medal at the U23 Men’s Pan American Cup
on Friday.
The Puerto Ricans lost the first set to host
Dominican Republic, before reacting to claim the
victory 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-20). The
losers will play Guatemala for the bronze medal.
Mexico and Puerto Rico gave a terrific show in
the first match of the competition with the
Mexicans prevailing in a thrilling five-setter.
Pedro Molina and Jamal Ellis finished with 19
and 17 points for Puerto Rico, with Molina
recording three aces. Omar Hoyos chipped in with
14 points.
For the Dominican Republic, Luis Reinoso and
Juan Feliz were the top scorers with 14 and 10
points, respectively.
Gerardo de Jesus, coach of Puerto Rico: “It was
a tough match as it is always against Dominican
Republic. We had played before and knew some of
the players. So we have them present and the
victory went to our side this time.”
Jose Gutierrez, coach of Dominican Republic:
“The match was similar to the previous ones in
the tournament with ups and downs. Our team
needs to play, most of them are practically U21.
We had problems with our services and at the end
we paid for it.”
Christian Hernandez, player of Puerto Rico: “It
was a real battle as always between Dominican
Republic and Puerto Rico. We were able to keep
the calm in a very important match like the
semifinal and got the win.”
Luis Reinoso, captain of Puerto Rico: “Both
teams battled hard. I am satisfied with our
play. We couldn’t win as we wanted but it was a
terrific match.” |
