|
RENO, USA (Aug. 13, 2015)
– Argentina showed its strengths as it defeated Venezuela,
25-23, 25-21, 25-21 in a pool play match on Thursday at the Reno
Events Center.
Argentina (2-0) will finish pool play on Friday against the
United States. Venezuela (1-1) will play Mexico.
Argentina led in spikes (49-35) and aces (3-1). Venezuela the
blocking 7-4 and also scored on 22 Argentina errors while
committing 19. Argentina’s hitting efficiency was .389 while
Venezuela’s was .276.
Argentina outside hitter Lisandro Zanotti led all scorers with
15 points on 12 spikes and a match-high three aces. Middle
blocker Pablo Guzman added 12 points on spikes.
Venezuela was paced by opposite Kervin Pinerua who had 13 points
on 12 spikes and one block.
Argentina led the first set 11-7 before Venezuela climbed back
into the match and tied the score at 19-19. At 23-23, Argentina
scored twice for the victory. Argentina led 21-16 in the second
set. Venezuela again closed the gap to 23-21, but the comeback
stalled and Argentina went on to win. Argentina led 19-16 in the
third set. Venezuela fought back to make it 21-20, but Argentina
again pulled away.
Venezuela captain Kervin Pinerua
“We weren’t able to get the points at the right times. We played
good defense but we couldn’t wrap up the point. Tomorrow we’re
looking forward to a strong match against Mexico.”
Venezuela coach Vicenzo Nacci
“We played against a very organized and complete team. I was
happy about how my players performed but Argentina played a
better game. We were happy with our blocking but we weren’t able
to execute in our transition. Our sideout game was good but we
missed a lot of serves. We must continue on with the rest of the
event.”
Argentina coach Martin Lopez
“They are a strong rival. We were able to succeed in the
back-and-fourth game where we were able to gain a lot of
transition points. The other team had a lot of errors in their
serve and that helped a lot. We maintained our rotations and it
worked efficiently in order to close out the match.”
Argentina captain Demian Gonzalez
“We played a lot better today than yesterday. Our match tomorrow
against the US is the local team and that’s a big match.” |
