Puerto Rico's coach Juan Carlos Nunez instructing his players during time-out
Zielona Góra, Poland, June 3, 2016 - Despite Puerto Rico’s slow start, their performance in the remaining three sets of the first match in group 2B tournament was more than enough to gain edge on the team of Czech Republic. Coach Juan Carlos Nunez had reasons for satisfaction.
Related information:FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2016 - Media GuideJuan Carlos Nunez, Puerto Rico coach: We started this game a little bit too slow, probably my team needed some time to get used to time difference and the environment. But as the match last, we got the right rhythm and started to do our job. I think we won the game because our players started to serve better, which caused some problems in reception to Czechs. Additionally, we started to move defensively along the net better. It gave us opportunity to defend more balls and get some points from counter attack and allowed to close the game in four sets.
Alexander Waibl, Czech Republic coach: First of all, I’d like to congratulate Puerto Rico on playing a very good game. My team showed a lot of good actions, but we had some problems with controlling the ball in easy situations, which prevented us from getting a better result.
Yarimar Rosa, Puerto Rico captain: We are happy to get a first victory in this tournament. Today we didn’t play our best volleyball. We started this match a bit slowly, too passive. We know that Czech players are tall, that they hit ball high and have a good block. After first lost set we got into the game, we caught the rhythm of the game. We started to play quicker, serve better and defend a lot of balls – it helped us win this game.
Michaela Mlejnkova, Czech Republic: During the game we had some good and bad moments, but it was our first official game in this line up. We have to take a lesson from each game and we will play better and better in next games. Today we had some problems in reception, as Puerto Rico put pressure on us with their service. We have to clean our minds before tomorrow’s match against Poland. It can be a difficult game because they play at home in front of their fans.