After 48 years, Mexico Wins a Pan Am Medal winning a 5-set battle for the Bronze

SANTIAGO, Chile, October 26, 2023 - After 48 years, Mexico won a medal at the Pan American Games by defeating Argentina in five sets 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18, 15-13) for the bronze medal in the Women’s Volleyball tournament at the 19th Santiago 2023 Games.

The last time Mexico reached a Pan American Games podium was in 1975 when they won the bronze medal against Canada. Mexico also won bronze medals in Cali 1971 and Sao Paulo 1955. Their first-ever medal was gold in 1955.

Mexico recovered from an unstable start in the first set. Argentina, led by their captain Daniela Bulaich and outside hitter Candela Salinas, took a 6-point lead (14-8). However, Mexico managed to stabilize their attack with Grecia Castro and Karen Rivera. Argentina’s blocks stopped them from recovering and led them to commit consecutive errors.

Despite Argentina resistance to Mexico’s pressure evening the score to 19 in the second set, Mexico, led by opposite hitter Karen Rivera and captain Jocelyn Urías, evened the match to one set each.

Opposite hitter María De La Paz Corbalán, along with middle blockers Bianca Farriol and Avril García, helped Argentina win the third set. But in the fourth set, Mexican outside hitter Aimé Topete played a crucial role in forcing a tie-break by scoring three consecutive attack points.

Mexico won the fifth set and the bronze medal with a 78-65 advantage in attacking points and 6-0 in service points. Argentina dominated in blocking 12-8 and made fewer unforced errors 17-27.

Grecia Castro of Mexico led all scorers with 26 points (22 attacks, one block, 3 aces). Karen Rivera also contributed to the victory with 23 points (19 attacks, one block, 3 aces), and Aimé Topete scored 20 points from direct attacks.

Daniela Bulaich and María De La Paz Corbalán scored 15 points each from direct attacks for Argentina. Avril García added 14 points, including a match-high of 8 blocks.

Nicolás Negro, Mexico’s coach congratulated his team, saying, “My players achieved a historic result. It has been 48 years since Mexico won a medal at the Pan American Games. We know that the best teams were not here, and we never had a complete team throughout the season. I believe that the pre-Olympic tournament in China prepared us to compete at this level. We arrived with great confidence, had a good tournament here, and I hope this medal marks the beginning of a new journey”.

Daniela Bulaich, captain of Argentina said “I think that at times, we couldn’t control their attackers. We struggled a bit in blocking and defense, and our serving level dropped significantly”.