Tie-Break Win over Mexico puts Brazil in the Pan American Games Title
Match
SANTIAGO, Chile, October 25, 2023 - Brazil advanced to the final match
of the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games with a tie-break victory 3-2
(25-17, 22-25, 27-25, 22-25, 15-13) over Mexico on Tuesday night at the
Arena Parque O’Higgins.
Brazil will face reigning champions, the Dominican Republic, in the gold
medal match. Both teams are undefeated, with Brazil seeking its fifth
title in the history of the Games, while the Caribbean Queens are aiming
for their second title.
Brazil hadn’t reached a final since 2015 when they lost to the United
States in Toronto. Meanwhile, Mexico will compete for their fourth
bronze medal in Pan American Games, facing Argentina, who won the bronze
in Lima 2019, their only medal in the history of the Games.
Mexico didn’t make it easy for Brazil, especially in the third set when
Brazil came from behind with a six-point deficit (8-14) for a dramatic
27-25 win.
In battled fourth set, Mexico lost two set points (24-20) before forcing
the tie-break, where the Brazilians were the ones to fail three match
points (14-10) before their thrilling victory.
Brazil dominated in blocking, with a significant 20-10 advantage, and
committed fewer unforced errors, 34 to 38. Mexico held advantage in
attacks, 53 to 50, and in service points, 8 to 3.
Brazilian Sabrina Machado was the leading scorer in the match with 27
points (20 attacks, 4 blocks). Lorena Viezel contributed 17 points in
the win, including a match-high of 7 points in blocks, and Maira Basso
added 10 points.
Grecia Castro and Karen Rivera led Mexico with 16 points each, and Aimé
Topete added 15 points.
Sabrina Machado from Brazil said, “Mexico is a highly skilled team, they
play very fast, we know their quality, they have a lot of volume. We had
to be patient, we started well in the first set, we had to come from
behind in the second and third sets, and I believe that patience was
crucial in today’s match. Now, we need to lower the adrenaline and study
because tomorrow will be a very tough match for us”.
Paola Rivera from Mexico expressed, “I’m very excited to be here. We
were thrilled to face such a formidable opponent. Brazil has a lot of
quality, so we knew it would be very challenging." |