Puerto Rico obtained their fourth win in the 2014 World Grand Prix on Saturday, beating Poland in four sets (26-24, 24-26, 25-10, 25-22) at the Gran Chimu Arena in Trujillo.
Puerto Rico obtained their fourth win in the 2014 World Grand Prix on Saturday, beating Poland in four sets (26-24, 24-26, 25-10, 25-22) at the Gran Chimu Arena in Trujillo.
Key Points:
• Puerto Rico’s Karina Ocasio was the top scorer in the match with 24 points, while Katarzyna Zaroslinska registered 19 points for Poland.
• Both teams had eight service aces, including four each for Poland’s Klaudia Kaczorowska and Puerto Rico’s Alexandra Oquendo.
• Puerto Rico had 14 blocking points to Poland’s eight.
• Puerto Rico raised their record number of wins in a single World Grand Prix to four.
• Poland’s World Grand Prix winning streak was stopped at five.
• It was the second meeting of the two teams in World Grand Prix history; Poland won their previous encounter in 2010 in straight sets.
A fierce battle took place in the first set. Karina Ocasio picked up 12 points in a set where the scores were frequently level. Poland had the first set point, but Puerto Rico turned things around and took the set 26-24 on a perfect block by Lynda Morales and an ace from Natalia Valentina, a late substitute.
Poland had the advantage at the beginning of the second set thanks to top scorer Katarzyna Zaroslinska, but it was all-square at 24-24 until the Europeans powered their way to victory.
After losing the second set, Puerto Rico were determined to regain the advantage. They dominated the third, stunning the Poles and winning by an astonishing margin of 15 points.
The fourth set was very similar to the first two, with both teams fighting hard. The scores were close once again but the power of Ocasio and Oquendo made the difference and Puerto Rico won the set 25-22.
