by LINCOLN, Neb. (Jan. 9, 2016) – Puerto Rico claimed the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament bronze medal by defeating Canada 32-30, 25-17, 25-20 on the final day of competition in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Puerto Rico ended the tournament with a 1-2 record and in third-place in the four-team round-robin event. By finishing with the bronze, Puerto Rico remains alive in the Olympic qualification process and will play in the Intercontinental Olympic Qualification Tournament in May. They will be joined by the third-place team in the South American Olympic Qualifier and the second- and third-place teams from the African Olympic Qualification Tournament. Canada finished the tournament 0-3 and their dreams of competing in the 2016 Olympic dashed.
Puerto Rico was led by Karina Ocasio’s 23 points and Aurea Cruz added 12 points in the victory.
Canada was paced by Tabitha Love’s 14 points and Jaimie Thibeault, a member of the T’Sou-ke Nation (Coast Salish), added 10 points.
Puerto Rico’s serve kept Canada out-of-system much of the match with an 8-2 ace advantage. Both teams finished with seven blocks. Puerto Rico held a 41-35 advantage in kills.
Canada Head Coach Arnd Ludwig: “We are disappointed in the outcome today. I am a little disappointed in the way we played. I think we can play a little bit better. Puerto Rico played well and put a lot of pressure on us. Sometimes we couldn’t hold the pressure, especially in the first set. In the second and third set we were always chasing the game and never really got into the game like we were in the first set.”
