Peru once again comes back to win in five sets

LIMA, Peru, September 22, 2016 - Peru pulled off a remarkable comeback from two sets down to defeat Cuba 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-15, 18-16) on Thursday to remain undefeated with a 4-0 record at the U23 Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup. Cuba dropped to 1-3.

It was the second consecutive five-set victory for Peru who won also against Argentina one day earlier needing a tie-breaker.

Once again Angela Leyva led the winning offense with 25 points. She was followed by Katherine Regalado and Maguilaura Frías with 15 and 14, respectively, and Coraima Gomez with 11 tallies.

Cuba’s Diaris Perez and Heidy Casanova finished with 21 and 19 points in the loss. Yelennis Díaz and Claudia Hernández had 15 and 13 for the defeated side.

Mauro Marasciulo, coach of Peru: “We knew it was going to be a complicated match but this group has a lot of heart. Now we have to recover for tomorrow and need to be well for the semifinals. The group is united and working with determination so I hope to finish the tournament well.”

Ángela Leyva, captain of Peru: “I don’t have words to express what I am feeling now. We always try to do our best to feel proud about ourselves. Today we were able to get the match going. The idea is to reach the final and we will keep moving forward to get the objective.”

Roberto Garcia, coach of Cuba: “It was very close game and at the end could have gone either way. Peru came from less to more. The first two sets belonged to us but Peru was able to win the next two. In the fifth set we were just about to close but the girls could not keep the calm to do it and Peru finished winning. Everything accomplished in this game was positive.