Peru returns to FIVB WGP since 1994 

TIJUANA, Mexico, June 24, 2010 – Peru became the fourth and last team from the Ninth Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup to claim a ticket to next year’s FIVB World Grand Prix by completing the round of semi finalists following a 3-1 (16-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-21) victory against Argentina. Next match for Peru will be against Cuba on Friday.

The return of Peru to the FIVB premier women’s annual competition in 2011 will mark its second since they took part in the 1994 edition.

Veteran Leyla Chihuan and Jessenia Uceda led the winners with 17 and 16 points while Georgina Pinedo had a match-high 19 points for the defeated side.

“We are very happy because we’ve accomplished our two main goals of being in the Final Four and in the FIVB World Grand Prix,” Chihuan stated. “We have had a great tournament since we lost our first match against USA. To qualify to the Grand Prix for a lot of us is like an award. It is like Mission accomplished.”

“We knew that some time we would be playing against Argentina so we studied them a lot,” assistant coach Edwin Jimenez said. “So it has been a collective work from both players and coaches. It is another step and I hope we can continue to grow.”

Horacio Bastit of Argentina said: “We leave the match with a bad taste in our mouth because we had an illusion after winning the first set. We paid because of our inexperience and Peru made the adjustments against the strong serves of Lucia (Fresco) and Georgina (Pinedo). The three sets won by Peru were all deserved.”