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SANTO DOMINGO,
Dominican Republic, September 18, 2021 - Mexico
secured its first ever medal at the Women's
Volleyball Pan American Cup after a surprise 3-1
(22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-19) win over three-time
reigning champion United States in Saturday's
first semifinal.
The highest
position reached by the Mexican women in the
19-year history of the event was a fourth place
in the inaugural tournament in 2002.
The first win
ever after nine losses against United States,
sent the Mexican squad into a gold medal match
on Sunday against the winner of the other
semi-final between Canada and host Dominican
Republic.
Samantha
Bricio and Maria Fernanda Rodríguez led Mexico
with 19 and 17 points, respectively, followed by
Grecia Castro and Karina Flores with 14 points
apiece.
Danielle
Cuttino finished with 21 points for United
States, while Lindsay Stalzer and Symone
Williams-Aboot each had 14 points in the losing
effort.
Rafael Petry,
coach of Mexico: "The United States is a well
prepared team, but in today's game we played
very well as a team and that was an important
factor. For now we are going to enjoy the
victory and tomorrow we are going after the
gold."
Karch Kiraly,
coach of the United States: "I have to give
Mexico a big congratulations. They have been
playing from less to more in this tournament.
They were a better team than us today and they
deserved the victory." |
