Mexico defeats Puerto Rico by 3-2 in Pan American Games - Volleyball
A five set match took place between Mexico and Puerto Rico on Thursday, October 27, during the men’s volleyball tournament of the Pan American Games that are currently taking place in Guadalajara, Mexico. By the time that the two teams reached the close
of the match, the Mexican home team was celebrating their hard earned win with the score board showed the following final set scores: 24-26, 16-25, 28-26, 25-21 and 15-9.
The first set of the match was competitive with both the teams coming out strong and battling hard until the very end. However, it was the Puerto Rican squad that was able to bag a win in the opening set. The loss of the first set of the game seemd to drop
the morale of the Mexicans and they put in a half hearted effort that made it easier for the Puerto Ricans to bag the second set by a comfortable margin. As soon as the third set started, the Mexicans came out as a rejuvenated team that was able to put up
an impressive fight and avoid a clean sweep by bagging the third set. Once they had a win, the Mexicans proved to be unstoppable and they marched on to secure the fourth as well as the fifth sets by a comfortable margin.
The coach of the Mexican team, Jorge Azair, expressed himself in the following manner at the press conference that was conducted after the match reached its close: “For the last years they have defeated us many times and now at home we finally broke that
jinx. Jorge Quiñones stabilized the reception and Carlos (Guerra) played very tough on the fifth set.”
On the other hand, the coach Carlos Cardona of the Puerto Rican team shared his views in the following manner: “On the first sets, Puerto Rico did everything to win, but in the end did everything to lose. We lost our attack ability. We tried to change our
setter, but it didn’t work.”
The player that was able to secure the most points in the entire match belonged to Mexico. The most contribution was made by the Mexican captain Ivan Contreras who kept the pressure on his opponents by registering a total of 22 points. On the other hand,
the top Puerto Rican player was Victor Rivera who made his presence felt by adding 20 points while he was helped by his teammate Hector Soto who scored 18 points in all.
In all, the performance of the Mexican team was far better than that of the Puerto Ricans as they were able to outperform their rivals in attacking as well as the defence.
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