A challenging competition ahead at Women’s Volleyball in Lima 2019

LIMA, Peru, August 6, 2019. - The coaches of the eight teams competing at the Women’s Volleyball tournament of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games gave their first impressions of what lies ahead as one day before the actions get going at the Multisport Complex El Callao in Lima, Peru.

Pool A consists of Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic and host Peru; Argentina, Brazil, host Peru,  Puerto Rico and defending champion United States are in pool B. The top two ranked from each group will advance to play the medal round.

Hernán Ferraro, Head coach of Argentina: “This is the same team that played the pre-Olympic in United States. We are tired but with a lot of expectations to perform well”.

Jose (Ze) Roberto Guimaraes, Head coach of Brazil: “We are coming from a tough Pre-Olympic tournament, at home, but Dominican Republic played very well 3-2. We are really glad to have qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games; this is an important moment for us. Now we face the Pan American Games, equally important because we are representing our country. Using our national team’s uniform is important for mi and the group, as a nation. We change six players from the Pre-Olympic event”.

Shannon Winzer, Head coach of Canada: “We had a really long lead in time; we arrived on the August 2 and hadn’t had the opportunity to experience the village, the excitement around there and all the athletes but now we are focused on the competition, going forward and down to business. The team is a mix of payers from the Pan Am Cup and two that came from Russia (Olympic qualifier), so it’s like an A2 team and we really excited to get going”.

Antonio Rizola, Head coach of Colombia: “Colombia is celebrating their first ever Pan American Games in women’s volleyball, it’s an honor for mi and Colombia. We will debut with Dominican Republic, a tournament favorite. We are here like snipers, on paper we are qualified number eight and with every victory we will advance one point. Our goal is to present our best level, just as we’ve been doing in our previous tournaments”.

Markos Kweik, Head coach of Dominican Republic: “We are coming from a tough year, intense; the team is in good condition, they are all healthy and I hope we keep our game level to face any opponent. All the teams here think of winning a medal”.

Francisco Hervas, Head coach of Peru: “We are very excited to see the great support during the men’s competition and we want to enjoy here at home. The team has worked a lot, we are aware of the great difficulties we will face against opponents who are better positioned than us. We are proud of how Peru follows volleyball which is an extra responsibility and we hope to move forward and bring joy to our supporters”.

José Mieles, Entrenador de Puerto Rico: “We brought the same team that competed at the pre-Olympic event, there are no changes. The team is highly motivated, with a good preparation after the pre-Olympic and our goal is to finish between the final four”.

Robert Browning, Head coach of United States: “We don’t put any weight to our title for a couple of reasons: the expectations that come with that are not helpful, none of the players here were there last time. We come in with a good team and that we will be playing against a bunch of good teams. Our group is very tough and if we make it to the semifinals it would be even tougher. A lot of this team was at the Pan Am Cup that we won three weeks ago. We feel good about the team and the competition, looking forward to the challenges which we hope to rise to”.