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LIMA, Peru, June 19, 2015 - Cuba prevailed against Puerto Rico
in a nail-biting five-setter 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 29-27, 23-25,
16-14) advancing to a semifinal clash against United States at
the XIV Women’s Pan American Cup taking place at Eduardo Dibos
Coliseum of Lima.
Melissa Vargas, who finished with a tournament-high 30 points,
recorded five aces to tie the all-time record of 25 set by
Mexican Ana Mercado in 2005. Sulian Matienzo (18), Alena Rojas
(12) and Jennifer Alvarez (11) also finished with double digits
for the winners.
Yarimar Rosa had 24 for Puerto Rico while Stephanie Enright,
Aury Cruz and Sheila Ocasio finished with 16, 12 and 11,
respectively.
Cuba recorded 19 blocks to 14 by Puerto Rico and dominated 9-3
in aces.
Sulian Matienzo, captain of Cuba: “A lot of ups and downs.
Puerto Rico is always a tough rival for us. They beat us in Cuba
so today we had to win to advance close to the final. We still
need to improve our tactics and those ups and downs.”
Roberto Garcia, coach of Cuba: “Congratulations to my girls. It
was a great match and either team could have won the pass to the
semifinals and we are glad to get the win because this is a
match to be replayed at the Pan Am Games.”
Yarimar Rosa, captain of Puerto Rico: “I am a little bit
disappointed for not winning. I think we made too many errors
with our serves but Cuba also did a good job. We only have to
take this as a lesson and continue improving in our next
tournaments.”
Jose Mieles, coach of Puerto Rico: “We made errors in the key
moments of the set and during the match. Cuba always has good
games against us. Their players have a lot of power. We did not
execute in the key moments. In the fifth set we came from behind
but couldn’t finish. We tied the score but couldn’t capitalize.
Now we have to prepare for tomorrow’s match.” |
