Coneo scores 23 points as Colombia get first win

CORDOBA, México, November 17, 2014 - Amanda Coneo registered 23 points in the victory of Colombia against Venezuela in straight sets (25-22, 26-24, 25-23) at the XXII Central American and Caribbean Games.

Margarita Martínez was the second best scorer for Colombia, with 10 units, while Roslandy Acosta and María José Pérez, closed with 15 and 13 points for the Venezuelan team.

Colombia capitalized 25 points by error of their rivals, while Venezuela closed with 21. Blocking game was equal between both teams, while Venezuela aced three times against only one by Colombia.

Sergio Rivero, coach of Venezuela: “Congratulations to Colombia for this match and the great effort shown by their players. They are ina great momento. You cannot come here without any kind of preparation prior to the competition. We need more scrimmage mathces. There were some tense moments during the match.”

Mauro Marasciulo, coach of Colombia: “We knew about the difficulties. We are in a tough pool. We are also a very young team that competed at the Pan American U23 Cup, so we could gained some kind of experience.”

Alejandra Marin, captain of Colombia: “We are a very young but united team. We have been working together since the beginning of the year, and since the South American U22 championship.”

Desiree Glod, captain of Venezuela: “Unfortunately we lost a great opportunity. We have no words. Our preparation was not good enough. Colombia is a team more experienced at the time, congratulations.”