Argentina edge Colombia in five-set thriller

Lima, Peru, September 5, 2012 – Argentina came from behind to edge Colombia (23-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 19-17) in the first five-setter of the U-23 Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup on Wednesday at Miguel Grau Coliseum of Lima.

Argentina improved to a 2-1 win-loss record and Colombia remained winless in three outings.

Trailing 11-6 in the tie-breaker, the Argentineans came back on the shoulders of Lucia Fresco to tie the score at 12-all before claiming the eventual victory with an ace of Natalia Aispirua followed by the block of Maria Calvete.

Fresco, the leading scorer of the competition, finished with 32 points. Tanya Acosta followed with 19 and Calvete contributed 15, including six blocks.

Colombia’s Diana Arrechea recorded a tournament-high 33 points in the losing cause while Melissa Rangel and María Martínez collected 19 and 12 respectively.

Argentina outblocked Colombia 14-8, while the defeated side managed a 10-6 advantage in aces.

“It was not a good game for us and Colombia played better but in a tie-breaker anything can happen and one point can be decisive,” Argentina’s Horacio Bastit said. “All the teams are young and sometimes the more experienced are the ones making the errors.”

“We still don’t have the ability to close a set because we don’t have enough matches,” Colombia’s Oscar Guevara said. “Precisely we are here preparing for the South American Championship even though our hope was to advance to the next round.”

“The match could have gone either way,” Argentina’s Antonela Curatola stated. “Mentally it was a very strong match since both teams were playing for the best possible place.”

“We had more chances of winning than Argentina, but at the end their experience was the difference,” Colombia’s María Alejandra Marín.