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LINCOLN, Neb. (Jan. 8, 2016) – United States moved one step
closer to 2016 Olympic Games qualification by knocking off
Puerto Rico 25-14, 24-26, 25-12, 25-14 Friday evening at the
Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.
The USA will face Dominican Republic (2-0) in the final match of
the tournament with the winner earning NORCECA’s bid into the
2016 Olympic Games. The match will be aired lived on NBC Sports
starting at 9 p.m. ET. Puerto Rico (0-2) finishes the tournament
with an all-important match against Canada (0-2) to stay alive
in the last chance Olympic qualifiers in May available to the
second- and third-place teams in the four-team round-robin
standings.
The U.S. had seven players with at least five points in a
balanced offensive match. Foluke Akinradewo sparked the United
States’ balanced attack with 15 points and Nicole Fawcett
chipped in 14 points. Karsta Lowe ended the night with 10 points
and Tori Dixon charted nine points.
Karina Ocasio led Puerto Rico with a match-high 23 points, while
Stephanie Enright recorded 11 points.
Puerto Rico committed 27 errors in the match to the USA’s 11.
The USA managed a 9-3 block advantage to go with a slim 2-1 ace
edge.
United States Head Coach Karch Kiraly:
“I thought it was really good for us. We responded really well.
Puerto Rico is a good team and they fight hard. Our focus here
has been going out and earn it and get it. We didn’t get it that
time, but I think we responded really well in the third and
fourth. That may have been the best thing to happen to us –
having Puerto Rico come back and punch us around a little.”
United States Middle Blocker Foluke Akinradewo:
“I think the biggest message was not letting off the gas. We
made a big defensive adjustments. We had our pin blockers really
focused on No. 11. She was really hurting us a lot with strong
hands.”
Puerto Rico Head Coach Juan Carlos Nunez:
“We knew the competitive level we were going to have today. It
was a matter of knowing what level we have to play. It prepares
us for tomorrow. We needed our hitters to be more effective. In
the second set we had about 20 attacks that helped us out. In
the last two sets we needed that offensive. We are hoping
tomorrow that our offense can carry over.”
Puerto Rico Captain Yarimar Rosa:
“We made less mistakes in the second set. USA has good blocks so
we covered our hitters and were able to recover from that. That
was the main difference in that set. We were confident and
played at a good level. We have our lows and our highs, but we
played better than yesterday. We took a set and that’s a
confidence boost for tomorrow. It was good we played this game
before tomorrow’s because when you play USA, you have to raise
your level. That will help us for tomorrow.” |
