United States beats Puerto Rico to reach the Gold Medal Match

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 18, 2024.- United States beat Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-16) on Thursday to advance to the gold medal match of the 2024 Girls U19 NORCECA Continental Championship at the Jorge Galeano Gymnasium in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

United States will seek their ninth gold medal in this age-group when they face Canada on Friday at 6:00 pm. Puerto Rico will fight against Mexico for their third bronze medal in the history of the tournament on Friday at 4:00 pm.

The Americans are the top medal winners of NORCECA, with 11 overall (8 gold, 3 silver). In this edition, they are undefeated and haven’t dropped a single set.

The United States finished with a 36-26 advantage in attacks, 12-9 in blocks, and 4-1 in service points. Both teams gave away 23 points on errors.

Outside hitters Audrey Flanagan and Henley Anderson were the top scorers for the United States, with 12 points each, both including 10 kills. Middle blocker Manaia Ogbechie registered 9 points, with a match-high of 4 blocks.

Pamela Agosto led Puerto Rico with 12 points from 10 attacks, one block, and one ace. Team captain Alana Guibert followed with 10 points from 8 attacks and 2 blocks.

Puerto Rico managed to recover from a three-point deficit in the first set, tying at 11 points when Angelina Reyes stopped outside hitter Audrey Flanagan, who was leading the American offense. United States advanced to a four-point lead (20-16) with Henley Anderson attacks  and Manaia Ogbechie in blocking. In the second set, the United States again felt the pressure from Puerto Rico’s Pamela Agosto and Alana Guibert, denying them two set points before closing with a powerful attack by Ogbechie. The United States found stability in the third set, reaching match point with a wide advantage (24-16), once again with Ogbechie blocking Agosto.

Jamie Morrison, head coach of United States: “Puerto Rico got better with every match that they had here, they played great volleyball, they pushed us and that helped us. We think of this as a development plan for athletes, so thank you to Puerto Rico, they had a really good tournament. I am proud of our girls for the fight that they showed and they played better volleyball as the match went on, they learned a lot. The win was a team effort, that’s how the U.S. plays, if you look at the stats the points were spread around, there’s six people on the floor, six on the bench and anyone can step in and contribute”.

Eduardo Galarza, head coach of Puerto Rico: “We aim for a good level of play, but our margin of error is very high. For example, when the match started, the first three points for the United States were from our mistakes. In the last set, we missed 7 serves and several attacks. We are making many mistakes, and when playing against a well-structured team, we cannot afford to have such a high margin of errors. Tomorrow, we will go for the bronze medal against Mexico”.