Colombia celebrates its first bronze medal

TRUJILLO, Peru, July 14, 2019 - Colombia defeated Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-21, 25-19: 25-21) at the Gran Chimú Coliseum in Trujillo and won its first bronze medal in the Women's Pan American Cup.

Those led by the Brazilian Antonio Rizola maintained control of the game from the first set with only 9 unforced errors, while Puerto Rico committed 20.

Colombia showed great qualities in the fundament of the block (12-5), also defeated the rival team in service (4-2); but was outscored in attack (39-45).

Amanda Coneo and Dayana Segovia contributed 17 and 11 points respectively for the Colombian triumph. The Puerto Rican Paulina Prieto finished as the best scorer of the match with 20 points.

Coach of Colombia, Antonio Rizola: Last year in the Dominican Republic we obtained a historical result with fifth place. Today, another historical result reaching the first bronze medal. We played a spectacular game, this team is learning to play tactically well, with a disciplined game structure but it is also playing with the heart and that is what is making the difference.

Captain of Colombia, María Alejandra Marín: Puerto Rico defeated us in the first phase, and we knew that concentration and discipline would be key to face such a tough opponent. Finishing in a third place is a great joy and we hope to keep going up.

Captain of Puerto Rico, Natalia Valentin: I'm disappointed with the game we showed today, things did not come out while they knew how to execute their tactical plan throughout the game. I think we had a good tournament, it would have been good to close with victory but it is a young team that will learn from today's lesson.