Puerto Rico wins by 3-2 against Tunisia: FIVB Volleyball Men´s Junior World Championship
The Caio Martins gymnasium saw Puerto Rico compete againat Tunisia on the third day of the FIVB Volleyball Men´s Junior World Championship that is currently taking place in Brazil. The first round of the tournament is being hosted by Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi which saw the Puero Rican prevail over the Africans 3-2.
The match between the two teams went on for five sets which ended in a win for the Puerto Ricans. This is the first time in the tournament that the Puerto Ricans have grabbed a win. The first set was lost by Puerto Rico but they did a good job of earning a comfortable win in the second set of the game. The Tunisians put up a good fight in the third set and were able to dominate the Puerto Ricans until the end. The fourth set was sealed by Puerto Rico and the match went to a decisive fifth set which the Puerto Ricans won, winning the match at 20-25, 25-13, 23-25, 25-20 and 15-11.
The Puerto Rican coach, Carlos Rodriguez, expressed himself in the following manner at the press conference after the match: “At the beginning, we had many errors, but we could recover the game. Little by little, we will raise our level during the competition."
On the other hand, the Tunisian coach, Mohammed Mounir Gara made the following comments about the match that his team lost: “For us, the level of play was the same as our first two matches. We lost focus, and both teams played at a similar level. Puerto Rico was better than us."
The start of the first set saw both the teams come out strong and challenge each other. As the first technical time out was reached, the Tunisian side was leading by 8-7 but the Puerto Ricans got the advantage at the second technical time out at 16-15. However, as the teams came back onto the courts, the Tunisians were able to bag the opening set at 25-20.
The second set started in favour of the Puerto Ricans as they got the lead at 8-5 which they were able to extend till 9-6. The Tunisians tried to close in the gap but the Puerto Ricans put on a spurt of speed by going on a 6-2 run that took them to 15-9. After this point, the Tunisians did not get back in the game and lost to Puerto Rico by 13-25.
The Tunisians stepped up their game in the third set and took the lead at 8-5 which got extended to 10-6. The game reached a tie three times with the last one coming at 23-23 after which the Tunisians bagged a win at 25-23.
The fourth set was dominated by the Puerto Ricans after it reached a tie at 16-16. The Puerto Ricans took the set at 25-20 and sealed the deal on the fifth set at 15-11.
Neither the Puerto Ricans nor the Tunisians will be heading to the second round of the tournament.
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