part of the Mexicans. In a close match that lasted 2 hours and 41 minutes, Mexico defeated Puerto Rico in 5 sets (34-32, 19-25, 22-25, 25-22 and 15-13).
The first set went up to 34 points with a victory for Mexico; the second and third sets were won by Puerto Rico 19-25 and 22-15, however the Mexicans did not give up and came back in the fourth set 25-22; finally the last set to fifteen points defined the match in favor of the tricolor team that won with an overall score of 3-2.
According to the Mexican Olympic Committee, the players who scored the most points were Diego Gonzalez with 18 points; Luis Hernandez and Yasutaka Sanay who added 11 and 10 in the victory; while Jorge Hernandez and Josue Lopez each contributed 9 points. “It was a very close match as they stretched us to five sets and our bench responded very well,” said Axel Tellez, captain of the Mexican team.
This afternoon, they faced Suriname, a young team that due to the pandemic did not have enough time to practice and be at the same level, according to their coach Clausius Straal. Mexico achieved a quick victory in three sets 25-13, 25-10 and 25-8. With this result, the Mexicans advance to the semifinals and in this way they get their place to the I Pan American Junior Games.
However, their match against Cuba tomorrow is still pending as part of the group round, which will define who goes through as first and second in Group B. The semifinals will be on Thursday, July 15 and the finals on Friday, July 16. So far, volleyball has Mexican representation for Cali-Valle in beach volleyball in both girls and boys indoor.
