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CALI, Colombia, November 27, 2021.-
Argentina remains undefeated winning a five-set
duel 3-2 (21-25, 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11) to
host Colombia in pool A in the men’s volleyball
tournament of the I Junior Pan American Games at
Evangelista Mora Coliseum.
The nail biting battle was an amazing display of
strength on both sides. Argentina suffered the
loss of its captain Mauro Zelayeta due to a
minor injury in the second set and Colombia as
well of middle blocker Juan Estupiñan in the
overtime.
Argentina prevailed 66-54 in attacks and 5-2 in
serves; Colombia in blocks by a slim 11-10
margin. Argentina finished with 31 unforced
errors and Colombia with 27.
Opposite hitter Bautista Gazaba of Argentina
scored a match-high of 23 points on 22 attacks
and one ace, middle blocker Nahuel García added
14 points on 11 kills and 3 blocks, alongside
outside hitter Martin Malaber and middle blocker
Imanol Salazar with 10 points each.
Colombian outside hitter Leiner Aponza topped
with 22 points including 21 kills, followed by
outside hitter Carlos Llanos with 18 points on
17 kills and one block, outside hitter Oliver
Murillo collected 11 points including 6 monster
blocks and opposite hitter Miguel Angel Martinez
contributed with 10 points.
Argentina (2-0) concludes the preliminary round
against Guatemala (0-2) and Colombia (1-1) meets
Puerto Rico (1-1).
Pablo Rico, head coach of Argentina:
“It was an even performance, there weren’t great
differences; they have a couple of effective
attackers, mostly number 7 and I want to
congratulate the Colombian team because they
played with courage and they enjoyed it. It was
a nice game to watch”.
Arnaldo Sevilla, head coach of Puerto Rico:
“We did the same that they did, we played like
equals; they looked for our weakness as did we.
Argentina won because they knew where to score.
It was a good match and we are still alive to
face another challenge against Puerto Rico
tomorrow”. |
