| Kobe, Japan, November 3, 2006 -- Puerto Rico made a huge step toward qualifying for the second round of the World Championships when they defeated rival Kazakhstan 3-1 in their third match in Pool C. With the Netherlands, Brazil and the United States regarded as the favorites in the group, the battle is on for fourth place. Puerto Rico improved to 2-1, while Kazakhstan remains winless in three games. The Puerto Ricans ran out winners by a score of 25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23.
As expected, the match was extremely close. The Puerto Ricans got the upper hand early on as they pulled into a four-point lead by the first technical break in the first set and a five-point lead by the second TTO behind the spiking power of captain Aurea Cruz. But the Kazaks began to find their rhythm after the second TTO with some clever play from Olga Kubassevich and a bit of power from Natalya Rykova, pulling the scores level at 20-20 and taking the score to 23-23.
But a powerful spike by Cruz brought setpoint and the captain then blocked Rykova to seal the set. There was absolutely nothing to choose between the two teams in the second set. Puerto Rico put on some great defense, but still Kazakhstan pulled away to 14-10. But Karina Ocasio came up with some huge spikes to help the Puerto Ricans get back into the game. But when it counted, Kazakhstan captain Yelena Pavlova came up with the goods, spiking at 22-22. Two fantastic blocks by Korinna Ishimtseva then clinched the set.
The Puerto Ricans had an early edge in the third set thanks to clever plays by Eva Cruz, but the Kazaks drew level when Ocasio made a couple of big errors. But Ocasio made up for her errors with some big spikes and Eva Cruz continued her clever approach to the game. Ocasio clinched the set with a strong spike. But the Kazaks weren't going to go down without a fight. Their blocking improved and their spikers started to find their mark, allowing them to take a four-point lead at 15-11. But Puerto Rico came back with strong spikes from Cruz, Cruz, Ocasio and Jetzabel Del Valle and the game was left on a knife edge at 23-23. But once again the captain came up with two massive spikes that sealed the match and, perhaps, qualification for the second round. |
