|
MEXICO CITY, Mexico, May 22, 2016. - Mexico wins spectacular
five-setter to Colombia (32-30, 25-20, 25-27, 23-25, 15-13) in
Pool C of the XI Men’s Pan American Cup at Olympic Gymnasium
Juan de la Barrera in Mexico City.
The home crowd cheered for Mexico in the most intense match of
the day, with Colombia battling after losing the first two sets.
Mexico sealed the victory while losing three match points. In
winning, Mexico remains unbeaten with 2-0 record and eight
points; Colombia earned two points.
Mexico held advantage in kills by 76-60 and serves 8-1, while
Colombia was better by far in blocking 16-8. Mexico gave away 38
points in errors and Colombia 28.
Outside hitter Jorge Barajas led Mexico with 24 points; also
contributing in the winning campaign were Ivan Marquez (15),
Samuel Cordova (13), Tomas Aguilera (12) and Gonzalo Ruiz (10).
Leading all scorers was Colombian Ronald Jimenez with 30 points.
Pedro Rangel, Mexico’s captain said “the first set was too close
and in the second we played much better. Colombia deserved to
win the third set, their strategy paid off. We changed our
mentality in the fifth set to finish winning”.
Mexican coach Jorge Azair explained that they held several
practice matches with Colombia before the tournament “we knew
about their capacity; we were always challenged by them. We got
in to difficulties during the match, because of our own
mistakes. What’s important is that the guys remained calm and
aggressive in the final stage of the match”.
Colombia´s captain Andres Piza said “as visitors, we were
prepared for a difficult task. From the beginning the match was
intense, even with disputes. Mexico was stronger in the second
set and we made better technical judgements, which worked well
in minimizing errors. The players worked together as a team and
well-motivated to generate more pressure. We paid a high price
for our errors in the fifth set”.
Brazilian Percy Oncken, coach for Colombia expressed “the scores
were always close, which gave us hopes that we could win. We
reached the decisive set and three of our errors in the less
convenient moments were crucial; and Mexico’s serves complicated
our game”. |
