Peru opens Women’s Pan Am Cup with victory over Dominican Republic

LEÓN, Mexico, August 18, 2024 - Peru opened the twenty-first edition of the Women's Pan American Volleyball Cup with a 3-1 (27-25, 25-14, 15-25, 25-15) victory over the Dominican Republic in Pool A, which is being held in León, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Peru had an advantage of 49 to 42 in attacking points and benefited from 35 Dominican errors, compared to 22. Dominican Republic was better in blocks with a 9-6 lead and in service aces with a 6-2 margin.

Peru will play its second match against Canada, while Dominican Republic will face Mexico.

Peruvian outside hitter Aixa Vigil led all scorers with 18 points on 17 attacks and one block, followed by team captain Karla Ortiz with 16 points, all on attacks.

On the Dominican side, middle blocker Candida Arias led with 13 points on 9 attacks, 2 blocks, and 2 aces. Opposite hitter Alondra Tapia contributed 10 points on 9 attacks and one block.

Dominican Republic held an early lead in the first set, but Peru recovered from a 4-point deficit (12-16) to tie the score at 19, with Aixa Vigil leading the offense. Peru reached their first set point (24-23) with a block from Vigil on Vielka Peralta, but after an error, the Dominican Republic tied the score and reached a set point (25-24) with a powerful attack from Madeline Guillén. Peru reached their second set point with a kill from Karla Ortiz and closed the set in their favor with a Dominican error. Peru dominated the second set with a wide margin, scoring from all angles. The third set was a different story for the Dominican Republic, with Samaret Caraballo, Candida Arias, and Alondra Tapia leading the attack. Peru secured the victory by closing the fourth set with a comfortable 15-7 lead in attack points, with Kiara Montes joining the offensive effort.

Karla Ortiz, captain of Peru: “We stayed patient, and that helped us a lot. We know that the Dominican Republic came in with a lot of rhythm from the VNL and the Olympic Games, while we have only been training amongst ourselves. We remained calm and communicated a lot with each other, which helped us”.

Niverka Marte, captain of Dominican Republic: “It was a bad start for us. The team played terribly, and Peru played better than us. We had a very long trip, and I think the team performed poorly”.