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TORONTO, Canada, July 25, 2015 – United States conquered the
gold medal at the women’s volleyball tournament of the Pan
American Games defeating Brazil in straight sets 3-0 (25-22,
25-21, 28-26) in the last match of the competition played in
front of a big crowd at Toronto Exhibition Center on Saturday
night.
The American side played neat volleyball to overcome the
challenge represented by the defending champions Brazil who
battled relentless until the last point of the contest.
It is the second gold medal for the United States women in the
history of the Pan American Games with the other also in Canada
in 1967 when the games took place in Winnipeg.
Nicole Fawcett finished with 21 points as the most prolific
scorer for the winners. Krista Vansant and Kristin Hildebrand
contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the victory.
Fernanda Rodrigues topped Brazil with 20 points and Jaqueline
Carvalho was next with 10 points for the silver medalists.
The American side dominated in attacks 54-38 and committed 15
errors to 17 by the Brazilians.
Daniel Fisher, Coach of United States: “I feel great, very proud
of my team. We were able to comeback from the loss to them
(Brazil) in the preliminary round. My team responded and made
the adjustments. It was really a big battle and great volleyball
for the fans in Toronto. In the third set we needed to settle
our passing and improved our reception. Also we changed our
serving strategy a little bit. It is a great feeling winning the
gold medal. The atmosphere was outstanding and I think our
players enjoyed it.”
Carli Lloyd, setter of United States: “I am so proud of my team.
We faced a great opponent but I think we deserved to win. We
really played good volleyball. About my personal contributions
to the team, I think that No. 20 (Jenna Haggland) deserves a lot
of credit. She has helped me a lot.”
Natalie Hagglund, Libero of United States: “We worked really
hard in the gym every single day and worked hard not only in the
technical stuff. We were together, to mix together and to get on
mind together. I hope all the best of this team as the Olympic
process gets on. I don’t know if I’m gonna be there. Nobody
knows who is gonna be there. We are so close together. But I
think this is has been something great.”
Mariana Costa, Player of Brazil: “Overall this has been an
experience for us to stay together as a very united team. We
tried to play hard against them. We struggled as they had a
really strong power attack.”
Fernanda Garay, Player of Brazil: “There is something positive
we have to learn from this tournament. We fought hard until the
end. This is a very young team and everybody wanted and had a
chance to contribute. Everybody participated in some way, as we
could see that there are many choices from us as players. We
finished with a silver medal, but obviously what you want is to
win the gold”. |
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