MATCH INFO

Almirante Brown, Argentina, August 24, 2011 - Carrying its momentum into the second round, Egypt achieved its second win in a row by seeing off Puerto Rico by 3-1 (15-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-17). The Caribbean, nevertheless, were able to win their first set of the World Champs, but weren't able to keep up the pace for the entire game.

Egyptian Islam Abdelkader topped the scorers with 17 points, narrowly chased by three Puerto Rican players: Francisco Vélez (15), Ángel Pérez (14) and captain Carlos Acosta (13). For the winning side, Kareem Hamdy achieved 6 blocks in a total count of 12 points.

Puerto Rico started off in a great way reaching the first technical timeout with a wide 8-2 score. Pérez was the most prolific scorer, as Egypt showed many signs of confusion. The lead increased to 16-8 and 20-11, and Puerto Rico never let it go. A 25-15 margin shut down the first set.

The white side doubled its opponent at the first track of the next set (8-4), but Egypt climbed back to 16-15 with Abdelkader being a continuous problem for the Caribbean defense. In a close ending, Egypt broke a 22-22 tie with the serve of Abdelkader and netted a 25-22 win.

Both teams contributed to a disorganised third set, with plenty of mistakes and no distance between each other. Egypt managed to stay on top (16-15) and after the second technical time out, rushed into a 25-19 with mighty blocks of Hamdy and two aces from captain Marawan Mohamed.

The Africans held a slim advantage (3-1) in the final chapter even though the errors remained. With an active block (13 points in the entire game), Egypt dealt with the efforts of Puerto Rico and kept away its opponent to 8-4 an 16-12. Puerto Rico seemed to give up and the difference increased to 20-14 and the final 25-17.