Matt Anderson provided 10 points in a crushing display of his side over Puerto Rico
Krakow, Poland, September 4, 2014 - With a superb performance in every department of the game, USA gathered their second Pool D victory after a smashing 3-0 (25-15, 25-8, 25-20) over a winless side of Puerto Rico in Krakow.
Key points
• Despite being two NORCECA teams who know each other well, this was the first USA v Puerto Rico clash at FIVB World Championships.
• USA now lead 6-1 in the head-to-head record between them.
• Puerto Rico is still not able to earn a single set in Poland.
• USA avoided back-to-back defeats with the win, a situation they’d last faced in 2006.
• The 25-8 score for USA in the second set is the widest difference of the tournament so far, beating Brazil’s 25-10 over Tunisia achieved on Wednesday.
Only two players reached double numbers in the game - Matthew Anderson was the second best scorer with 10 points while Taylor Sander, USA’s main weapon so far, added 11 kills. Paul Lotman and Maxwell Holt followed them with 9 apiece, while no player in Puerto Rico could score more than 5 points.
Anderson spurred his side to a quick 4-0 start, but some loose play narrowed the gap for Puerto Rico. However, Holt started to punish the Puerto Rican reception and his teammates scored properly to provide full control (15-9). Holt himself took the floor in the end and scored four out of five USA’s final points for a 25-15 opener.
As the game went on, Puerto Rico was simply unable to do anything against USA’s variety of serves. Lotman, Holt and Sander chipped in with aces to a huge 13-3 and that margin became even wider towards the end. Holt fired a new ace, Sander did well in counterattack and a solid block from David Lee scored the 25-8.
Puerto Rican spirit finally appeared in the third chapter, with Jackson Rivera, José Rivera and Jean Carlos Ortiz on court. That allowed them to transform an early USA lead into an 11-10 score and the momentum remained to 16-14. In the final track, though, Micah Christenson blocked to restore the American advantage and Puerto Rico lost focus in the end. A couple of errors and a spike from Lotman finished the game by 25-20.