Puerto Rico and
Dominican Republic leading pools
at Women Stars Cup
MONTERREY, Mexico, September 25,
2006.- Puerto Rico and Dominican
Republic lead their respective
pools at the first TV Azteca’s
Women Stars Volleyball Cup
after two days of action.
On Monday, Puerto Rico scored a
four set victory (25-20, 25-18,
24-26, 25-21) over Cuba relying
on the effectiveness of their
serves and defense at the net,
and Dominican Republic had an
easy triumph over Costa Rica in
straight sets (25-12, 25-13,
25-17).
Aury Cruz led the Puerto Rican
offense with 18 points and Eva
Cruz and Sheila Ocasio each
added 13 points. Yusleyni
Herrera was the best Cuban with
16 points.
Sofia Heredia led the balanced
Dominican attack with 14 points,
including five aces, Cindy
Rondon had 12 and Bethania de la
Cruz contributed 11 points.
The Puerto Ricans had a big
celebration after their victory
against the young Cuban squad.
It was the first win of Puerto
Rico over Cuba at the senior
level since the IX Central and
Caribbean Games in 1962 in
Jamaica.
“Our serves have been the key in
our two matches and it has not
been the case in our recent
competitions,” said Juan Carlos
Nunez, the Puerto Rican coach.
“It is a big win for us because
Cuba is a world power and you
always have to prepare well
against them, the first or the
second team.”
In the other two matches, Peru
defeated Mexico in Pool A and
USA beat Canada in straight sets
in Pool B. Both teams have 1-1
records.
Peruvians Patricia Soto and
Milagros Moy each had 17 points,
Leyla Chihuan added 16 and Luren
Baylon chipped in 10. Mexicans
Bibi Candelas and Claudia
Rodriguez each had 13 points and
Martha Revuelta charted in 12.
“It was a very interesting match
with both teams giving their
best,” said Chihuan. “We have
improved from yesterday and step
by step we can overcome our
errors. Mexico was a great
rival.”
Veteran Elizabeth Bachman led
the USA victory over Canada
(25-12, 25-22, 25-23) with 17
points while Kathleen Olsovsky
and Jane Collymore added 12 and
11 respectively. Emily Cordonier
with 13 points was the only
Canadian in double figures.
The standings after two days of
preliminary round are as
follows:
Pool A: Puerto Rico (2-0), Cuba
(1-1), USA (1-1), Canada (0-2).
Pool B: Dominican Republic
(2-0), Peru (1-1), Mexico (1-1),
Costa Rica (0-2). |