The U.S. maintains dominance over Puerto Rico: 2011 FIVB World League - Volleyball
The men around head coach Alan Knipe once again demonstrated a stellar performance and led Team USA to another fabulous victory over Puerto Rico. It was the second match between the U.S. and Puerto Rican teams, which eventually ended with the final score
of 3-1 (25-23, 26-24, 22-25, and 25-12) and Americans walked away with the tag of winners. The Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico hosted the thrilling performance on Saturday, June 4. Around 4,512 spectators came to watch the match in the competition
hall, whereas a good number of volleyball enthusiasts watched the match online.
Match summary
The match was opened with an exchange of powerful jump-serves from both sides. Puerto Rico’s captain, Hector Soto, came strong on the opponents and showed the power of his forearms in serve and attack. He supplied plenty of power to his shots and made a
stunning opening in the match. On the other hand, Clayton Stanley of the USA supported his team’s score. The opening set of the game was a point to point fight and each side took the lead in the game at some point. The player wearing the number-8 shirt in
US team created much trouble for the opposite side. He was none other than American Skipper, William Priddy. The see-saw battle continued for 30 minutes in the first set and finally Puerto Rico had to suffer the damage as the set was secured by their opponents,
25-23.
The loss of the opening set aggravated the Puerto Rican players. They hit back and tried to look for the rare gaps in the American half. The offensive attack of Soto and Rivera created trouble for the Americans but Puerto Rico couldn’t grab success in the
second set. The visitors stole the show by sending 26-24 on the board and extended their lead to 2-0.
The U.S. team seemed fully prepared to put an end to the tussle in the third set but Puerto Ricans had some spark left in them. They came up with a better plan in the third set and managed to bring themselves out of the hole. Better attack and an overall
sensible game enabled them to create a chance of jubilation for the home crowd. Puerto Rico hit the mark with a 25-22 win over USA in third set.
However, the happiness was short-lived. American team bounced back in the game in the following set and stormed Puerto Rican half with pin-point spikes. The hosts could only score 12 points, while the visitors claimed the set by polling 25-12. USA declared
victory over Puerto Rico in the last match of the second week.
Post-match comments
The captain of the Puerto Rican team, Hector Picky Soto, regretted the loss of another important match. He talked about the possibilities and chances of better performance after the match. He said, “We played well for three sets and had chances in the first
two but couldn’t close. In the fourth set, a lot of things happened. I don’t know if it was lack of gas or lack of concentration but it was a disaster. At the end we couldn’t get any points and it was a painful loss.”
On the other hand, US skipper William Reid Priddy, was visibly excited speaking about the amazing victory over Puerto Rico. He said there were actually moments in the game when Puerto Rico was in good position to turn the direction of the game. The match
took many ups and downs but eventually his team managed to hold off the resilient rivals. Priddy was simply overjoyed with a sense of great achievement.
The coach of Team U.S.A, Alan Knipe, was equally delighted about the success of his team. He appreciated the good effort put up by Puerto Rico and also praised his own players for obtaining another three points with this great victory in the fourth match.
Tags: