Varazdin, Croatia, July 23, 2017 - Croatia showed their best performance in the last game of FIVB World Grand Prix in Varazdin but lost against Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico coach Javier Gaspar: It was an exciting game for the fans. Croatia came back because we weren't able to finish in the third set. We had a 21-16 lead, but Croatia played great, they started to play better defense on our serve. We were able to close the deal in the fifth set without a whole lot of problems. I'm glad we got the victory and I'm satisfied with the way the team played.
Puerto Rico player Stephanie Enright: I think they blocked us well in the third set and we had to give them credit as they played really well at the end. We had to play five sets, which is good for us because now we get to go on well deserved vacation. We can do better than this, but we are a new and young team. From the first tournament to now we improved a lot.
Croatia coach Miroslav Aksentijević: This was maybe the best game of the tournament, unfortunately we were not rewarded with a win. We had a lot of ups and downs during the match. We had a chance after winning the third set to turn things around completely but we lost our momentum in the fifth set. We played like this throughout the entire tournament. This is a young team with a bright future.
Croatia coach Samanta Fabris: This match was the most positive thing about these last three days. We were down two sets and were down five points in the third, but we were able to make a comeback. It's a shame we couldn't win in the fifth set. We have to be satisfied with a point that we won today and keep working to get better in the future.