United States with stunning NORCECA U20 opening

AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico, June 18, 2018. - United States with stunning 3-0 (25-13, 25-9, 25-19) victory over Puerto Rico at their U20 Women’s NORCECA Continental Championship opening match in Poliforum Universitario Morelos of Aguascalientes, Mexico.

United States’ overwhelming performance against Puerto Rico showed their strong intentions of winning the FIVB 2019 World Championship berth up for bid at Aguascalientes. The US girls struck hard while taking charge from start to finish in their first group A outing.

United States overpowered Puerto Rico on huge 30-14 margin in kills and 12-2 in service points; and they held a slim 5-4 advantage in blocking. Both teams committed similar amount of errors, USA with 21 and Puerto Rico with 28.

Logan Eggleston of United States topped all scorers with 15 points on impressive 6 aces, 8 kills and one block. Jaylibeth Garcia led Puerto Rico with 7 points.

In Tuesday’s pool A matches, United States (1-0) meets Cuba (1-0) and Puerto Rico (0-1) faces Guatemala (0-1).

Logan Eggleston captain of United States: “Our high hitting, consistency, good energy and overall performance helped us finish on top. Our team chemistry is really good also; we are working well and supporting each other. In set two our strong serves and good passing made a difference”.

Robert Cook head coach of United States: “This is our first tournament together, so the girls were a little nervous and we missed a few serves during the first set, so it’s something to improve. The second set was much better, we served really well and if we can continue doing that we got a chance against the best teams in this tournament. Facing Cuba should be difficult from the beginning, they are wonderfully athletic and skilled, and it’s going to be a real challenge. Our depth may be our best feature; the number of players that can play different role makes us harder to defend”.

Paulina Pérez captain of Puerto Rico: “Our more experience players performed well, but also the bench players did a splendid job; of course it wasn’t our day. We have two experienced players, we did what we could; United States’ offensive serves killed us. We will continue to fight, practice hard. This is only the beginning. I am proud of my team and tomorrow we will be stronger”.

Rafael Olazagasti head coach of Puerto Rico: “This was our first match and my players were really pressured; I have control of the ball and I don’t pass nor serve. We committed 13 errors in the first set, 15 errors in the second set, and you can’t expect to win like that. This is a group of new players; we have only 3 with some experience. My team will gain confidence facing Guatemala because we are similar and I believe we can execute our game plan. We want to continue preparing throughout the year, the team will learn from this experience and it will contribute to their development”.