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RENO, USA (Aug. 14, 2015)
– Argentina advanced to the semifinals of the Pan American Cup
with a 25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 25-23 win over the United States on
Friday at the Reno Events Center.
Argentina (3-0) won Pool B and will advance straight to Sunday’s
semifinals. The U.S. (2-1) finished third in Pool B and will
play Canada (2-1) in the 7 p.m. quarterfinal on Saturday.
The U.S. team has only been practicing together a short time and
Argentina took advantage of its weaknesses, particularly in
passing. Argentina led in spikes (54-49) and scored on 37 U.S.
errors while committing 22.
The U.S. led in blocks (14-5) and aces (7-3). Argentina had a
hitting efficiency of .287 while the United States’ was .252.
Argentina outside hitter Lisandro Zanotti led his team with 16
points on 15 spikes and one block. Opposite Federico Martina
added 11 points on nine spikes and two blocks.
U.S. outside hitter Greg Petty led all scorers with 15 attacks
and a match-high four aces. Outside hitter AJ Nally totaled 11
points on eight spikes and one ace. Middle blocker Jeff Jendryk
and setter Jonah Seif each had three blocks for the U.S.
After winning the first two sets, Argentina led 19-14 in the
third. The U.S. got a 4-0 run to pull to within one point.
Argentina reached match point at 24-22, but had a serving error
followed by a hitting error to tie the score. A block from Seif
followed by another Argentina error gave the U.S. the win.
The fourth set was tied at 21-21 when the U.S. had a serving
error and net violation to put Argentina up 23-21. Petty got his
final spike of the night to pull to within one. But Argentina
came back with a kill. Argentina’s serving error gave the U.S.
its final point before Argentina’s kill ended the match.
Argentina Head Coach Martin Ariel Lopez
“It was a tough because we both we’re looking for first place in
the pool. We knew that we had an advantage of the number of sets
won and we were patient in the match to let it flow and develop
into what we wanted. I’m happy because everyone has been
developing and I was able to use the bench. Even in losing the
third set we maintained a rhythm. We wanted to reach the
semifinals and we’re there.”
Argentina Captain Demian Gonzalez
“We feel good physically. We achieved our objective to advance
to the next round. We used the bench which was great for us so
we can save our starters for the next match.”
U.S. Head Coach Jeff Nygaard
“We learned a couple of things; we have the physical ability to
compete at this level and have success. The thing we need is
consistency of that physicality. We played a team that was
exceptionally skilled and intelligent and they had the
physicality when they needed it, they had great ball control, we
just gave up some runs. The lack of team experience showed, and
they took advantage of it.”
U.S. Captain AJ Nally
“We’re getting there. Is going to be really good when we finally
click. They were a really good team. They put pressure on us but
I like how we fought back. It was great. We gave them some
energy, some new looks with new players that came in and we did
a good job. It’s going to be scary when we start clicking.” |
