Mexico wins five-set thriller over Venezuela

GATINEAU, Canada, June 14, 2011 – Fighting for its playoff life, Mexico defeated Venezuela in a five set thriller in Group A action Tuesday at the Pan Am Cup men’s volleyball tournament 25-16, 23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 15-13.

It was the most exciting match of the tournament so far and the first to go beyond three straight sets.  Mexico betters its record to 1-1 while Venezuela was playing its tournament opener.  The Venezuelans battle Brazil (1-0) on Wednesday.

Daniel Vargas and Marco Macias led Mexico with 19 points apiece and Tomas Aguilera added 15 in a match that lasted one hour and 56 minutes. Maximo Montoya also had 19 points for Venezuela while Jhoser Contreras added 16 and Kervin Pinerua 14.

‘’It was a great battle, the teams played with heart,’’ said Mexico’s Captain Jorge Quinones.  ‘’We played a very good the first set, the next two sets not so good and then we were better in sets four and five.’’

‘’It was a very hard match and the rhythm changed a lot,’’ added Mexico’s head coach Jorge Azair.  ‘’But it was better than yesterday (a loss to Brazil) and we were a lot less nervous.’’

‘’A lot of our players were playing together for the first time and they were really nervous,’’ said Venezuela’s head coach Idolo Herrera.  ‘’It was also a good match for the audience, very exciting.’’

‘’We showed a lack of experience,’’ added Pinerua, while nursing his right shoulder with an ice bag.  ‘’We made mistakes in the crucial moments.’’