Peru wins the Pacific Classic and advances to the semifinals

Peru wins the Pacific Classic and advances to the semifinals

LIMA, Peru, May 16, 2019 - In a thrilling encounter, Peru rallied and won the 'Pacific Classic' against Chile (17-25, 22-25, 29-27, 25-18, 15-11). With this result, the white-red team remained with the semi-final classification of the V edition of the U20 Volleyball Pan American Cup- Herbalife Cup held at the Manuel Bonilla Coliseum in Miraflores.

In the first two sets, Chile took advantage of all the points in counterattack and although coach Natalia Málaga rotated all her players, the problems in the defense were recurrent in the Peruvian squad. After the third set, the Peruvians took the lead, and by adjusting their block and service they managed to control the opponent and finish their plays with greater concentration.

The member of the youth selection Camila Pérez was the top scorer in Peru with 16 points, followed by Flavia and Kiara Montes with 13 points each. Despite the adverse result, Chile had the best scorers: Beatriz Novoa with 26, Gracelyn Carvacho 24 and Gabriela Badilla 17.

Peru was edged in attack (61-62) and service (3-7), but evened in blocking (8-8). Chile gave 36 points in unforced errors, the winning team 29.

Flavia Montes, captain of Peru: In the first two sets we made many mistakes. But we were not allowed to lose at home to Chile, we went out and put a heart to it; from there things started to work. We have many young girls in the team did a great job and tomorrow before the Dominican will do our best to come out with the win.

Beatriz Novoa, Chilean captain: I think that at times we were superior, but we did not know how to maintain the advantage. We failed to adjust more in the service and they took advantage of that, for tomorrow we have one final match against a rival that we do not know but we will go out and do our game.

Peru will measure forces against the Dominican Republic this Friday 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the semifinals. For its part, Chile will play at 15:00 hours against Honduras for the fifth place in the competition.