Brazil pulls extraordinary come back

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 9, 2018 – Brazil climbed back from two sets down to defeat Colombia in a sensational South American battle 3-2 (18-25, 24-26, 25-16, 25-23, 15-13) in Pool C of the Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup on Monday.

It was the second victory for Brazil in as many days while Colombia, who played five sets for second day in a row, dropped to 1-1.

Bruna Honorio Marques and Thaisa de Menezes led Brazil with 22 and 20 points, respectively, with Thaisa scoring seven of the 20 blocks by Brazil. Fernanda Tome came off the bench to start in the third set and finished with 12 points while Maira Cipriano and Francynne Jacintho each contributed 11 points.

Amanda Coneo was the best Colombian in scoring with 16 points followed by Margarita Martínez with 13. Dayana Segovia and Melissa Rangel each had 12 points in the loss.

The match started with a delay of more than two hours due to bad weather and leaks in the roof of the stadium.

Dani Lins, Captain of Brazil: We knew it was going to be a tough match. They have players with big jump and strong attack. The match was complicated also for the delay to start but we could get the win.

María Marín, Captain of Colombia: We are improving with every match and every day we are better. This match could have gone either way.

Wagner Fernandes, Coach of Brazil: It was a tough match. Colombia has been working to get better. We are going to suffer because we only trained for four weeks and during the matches I have to look for the ideal team. Today Fernanda did a good job coming off the bench.

Antonio Rizola, Coach of Colombia: We are showing evolution as part of a process. We couldn’t close due to inexperience. Brazil has many players with international experience in age group tournaments and during the match they were able to adjust to our game. That was the key.