United States defeat Argentina for women's gold

LIMA, Peru, July 30, 2019 - Karissa Cook and Jace Pardon of the United States recovered from losing the first set to win 2-1 (14-21, 22-20, 15-10) to Ana Gallay / Fernanda Pereira, of Argentina, in the final of the women's beach volleyball tournament of the Pan American Games in Lima 2019.

Gallay and Pereira took the initiative in the first set and based on good defense and their services near the parallel line, complicated Cook and Pardon, however, in the second set, the Americans were alive with shots at the bottom of the court to break a tie at 20.

In the third set, the pressure caught the South Americans, who yielded some points on receipt, while Cook and Pardon left everything in the defense, maintaining their initial 3-point lead to close the match.

The United States had placed fifth in the Toronto Pan American Championship, while Gallay was a gold medalist with Georgina Klug.

Cook: We are very happy, at times we feel out of rhythm, but everything went well. We had not lost a set, Argentina came out very strong, they never let their guard down and they are playing a very good volleyball, but we did our job, we played our game.

Pardon: “We started the games well, I think we managed to communicate and play well as a team, at the beginning my partner was better in defense and we decided to make some changes and keep what we were doing better.

Results

Gold medal: USA def. ARG 2-1 (14-21, 22-20, 15-10). Bronze medal: BRA def CUB 2-0 (21-19. 21-18). Place 5-6. COL def BRA 2-0 (21-12, 21-19). Place 7-8: PAR def CRC 2-0 (21-16, 22-20).

Final Positions

1.- USA, 2.- ARG, 3.- BRA, 4.- CUB, 5.- COL, 6.- CHI, 7.- PAR, 8.- CRC, 9.- CAN, 10.- PER, 11.- MEX, 12.- NCA, 13.- ESA, 14.- TTO, 15.- GUA, 16.- ISV.