SANTIAGO, Chile, November 1, 2023. – Puerto Rico’s 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-19, 25-20) victory over Dominican Republic puts them in the quarterfinals of the Men’s Volleyball tournament at the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games, taking place at the Arena Parque O’Higgins.
Puerto Rico finished third place in Pool B and will face Cuba, who finished second in Pool A, in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Dominican Republic will compete for positions five to eight in the event.
The winners came from behind in all sets, to end the match in control of attacking points 60-48 and service 5-4. Dominican Republic outperformed Puerto Rico 11-5 in blocks. Puerto Rico committed 24 errors, while Dominicans had 23.
Opposite Jamal Ellis led Puerto Rico with 20 points, including 19 kill points and one ace, accompanied by captain Pelegrin Vargas with 14 points, on 12 kills and two aces. Middle blocker Jonathan Rodríguez recorded 11 points, on 9 kills and two blocks.
Dominican Alexis Cruz led all scorers with 22 points, on 16 attacking points, a match-high of 4 blocking points, and two aces. Captain Henry Tapia added 20 points, on 17 kills, 2 blocks, and one ace. Outside hitter Wilfrido Hernández contributed 10 attacking points.
Puerto Rico’s setter Kevin López spoke after the victory, saying, “What a beautiful atmosphere! We had to adjust because we started 5 or 6 points behind and didn’t recover quickly. We talked about it during the timeout, and things started to flow slowly. We closed the gap on the scoreboard, and that’s how we took the sets. From there, we knew what each one had to do, and the job was completed with joy”.
Francisco Arredondo, Dominican Republic’s setter, commented, “It was a very tough match for us because Puerto Rico has always been our rival, and they are a team that constantly challenges us. The match became complicated for us when we failed in receiving-passing, a simple skill, and it affected our attack percentage, which was not positive, not high, less than 50%. The other team did a better job; that’s how the game goes, one team wins, and the other team loses”.
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