MATCH INFO

Niterói, Brazil, August 2, 2011 – Spain easily defeated Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-7, 25-15, 25-18) to pick up their second Pool B victory on Tuesday, the second day of the FIVB Volleyball Men´s Junior World Championship 2011, at Caio Martins Gymnasium in Niterói.

Puerto Rico was an easy opponent overall, but showed some resistance in the latter parts of the game. 

Spain kept its lead in Pool B prior to Tuesday’s match between Argentina and Tunisia. Spain will play Argentina on Wednesday while Puerto Rico will play Tunisia.

Spain took advantage of its opponent’s mistakes, earning 21 points on the match, while Puerto Rico only had nine points from Spanish mistakes. Jorge Almansa led all scorers with 17 points on 15 attacks and two blocks. On the Puerto Rico side, Steven Morales scored seven points, all from attacks.

Spain opened the first set with a 4-0 lead before Puerto Rico scored on Spain’s error. Spain got the ball back when Puerto Rico served out of bounds and Spain’s Francisco Ruiz served for 10 straight points, including an ace. Puerto Rico finally got the serve back on Spain’s serving error. Trailing 4-22, Puerto Rico scored three straight points on a kill from Josue Rivera, Spain’s violation and an ace by Jose Ribas. However Spain came back with a kill from David Sanllehi and went on to win the set 25-7. The European side won six points on their opponent’s errors in the set. Francisco Ruiz was the best player, not only because of his five points scored, but also for his great serves, which kept his team in the lead.

Spain jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set before Puerto Rico’s Ricardo Archilla scored with a kill from the left side. Spain led 8-4 at the first technical timeout (TTO) and 16-8 at the second. With Spain leading 23-13, Puerto Rico’s Emanuel Romero connected on a spike and Jorge Lopez added an attack to make the score 23-15. But Spain’s Jorge Almansa ended the mini-run with a right-side kill and Miguel Fornes won the set for Spain with a block.

On the third set, Puerto Rico shows some of their abilities and kept the score close, giving Spain a hard time. Spain held a 15-9 lead when Puerto Rico scored three straight points to pull to within three. Spain called timeout. The teams traded points until Spain led by three at 20-17. Spain turned up the pressure and Puerto Rico did not respond as Spain coasted to the set and match victory.