Peru obtains first victory at U18 Pan Am Cup

DURANGO, Mexico, May 23, 2019. - Peru obtained their first victory at the U18 Girls’ Pan American Cup beating Guatemala 3-0 (25-11, 25-7, 25-18) at Auditorio del Pueblo in Durango, Mexico.

Peru finishes the preliminary round with 1-2 win-loss record moving into the quarterfinals as third place of pool B. Guatemala is fourth with 0-3 and will play for places 5-8.

Peru’s consecutive offense errors in the third set helped Guatemala to move closer and tie the scores 18-18, but they weren’t in real danger of extending the actions further.

Peru overwhelmed Guatemala with huge 40-15 margin in attacks and they also held advantage in blocks 5-2. Both teams scored 4 points from the service line. The winners scored 24 points on opponent errors while committing 15 of their own.

Camila Perez scored 10 points as Peru’s top scorer and the only player that finished with double figures. Janelly Ceopa contributed in the winning campaign with 9 points and Carolina Milla chipped in with 8 points. Laura Cortéz led Guatemala with 9 points.

Speaking about Peru’s first victory, captain Yadhira Anchante expressed “it was a match with little complications, nevertheless we played with all our strength even if Guatemala wouldn’t put resistance, we gave our whole energy to win 3-0”. About their preparation for the next round she said “early today we practiced some plays, crossing, our blocking time and defense because it’s most likely to face Mexico”.

About yesterday’s loss to Puerto Rico, she said “we lost the game from our hands, we should have finished in the fourth set, but Puerto Rico knew what to do in key points”.

Jimena Castellanos, Guatemala’s captain said about finishing the preliminary round “I believe we did a good job despite facing superior teams. This is a learning experience, it shows us what we need to improve and what went well, and we must improve our game to face other teams”. When asked about evening the scores against a powerful team like Peru in set three she expressed “we were more aggressive, disciplined and our energy helped us to tie the score, something we hadn’t done before”.