Colombia locks first ever Pan Am medal in five-set comeback over Brazil

LIMA, Peru, Augusto 10, 2019. - Colombia locked their first ever Pan American medal in thrilling five-set comeback 3-2 (25-22, 27-25, 14-25, 26-28, 9-15) over Brazil in the first semifinal of Lima 2019 at the Multisport Complex El Callao.

This is Colombia’s first time competing at Pan American Games routing into securing a medal with a spectacular semifinal victory over Brazil coming behind from a two-set deficit. Colombia will play for the gold medal and Brazil for their fourth bronze medal, waiting for the other semifinal result between Argentina and Dominican Republic.

Colombia’s momentum kicked in when they came out on top leading set three by a sizeable margin up to the end. In set four, Colombia recovered from a five-point deficit (16-21) to the deciding winning tie-break leading from start to finish.

Colombia’s huge 18-9 blocking margin took over Brazil; they also led in kills 70-66 and by a slim 5-4 in aces. Both teams committed 22 unforced errors.

Amanda Caneo continues her masterful tournament performance, leading Colombia with 28 points on 21 kills, 5 stuff blocks and 2 aces; Margarita Martinez also joined in with strength scoring 26 points including 25 kills. Dayana Segovia and Melissa Rangel added 17 and 10 points accordingly. Brazil used a balanced attack between Paula Borgo and Lorenne Geraldo scoring 18 points apiece, Mara Ferreira added 15 points, followed by Lara Nobre with 13 points.

Comments:

Macris Carneiro, captain of Brazil: “We were aware of the tough match ahead. The first two sets were atypical, we weren’t expecting them. Colombia was a balanced team, they led the scores for a long period and they battled a lot. At the moment they adapted better to our weakness, they reorganized. But they played very well, congratulations! Matches are decided on the court, and at that moment there is no tradition and no history of Brazil, what’s important is the present moment and they deserved to win because they played much better; but we fought as well and gave our best”.

Camila Gomez, libero of Colombia: “In the beginning we were too passive because we were facing a strong opponent and we pressured up to the second set. We never stop fighting until we obtained the result we wanted”.

Alejandra Marin, captain of Colombia: “The difference today was that we never gave up, we fought up to the end and giving our one hundred and ten percent”.

Antonio Rizola, Head coach of Colombia: “This is a historic result but expected; we always go on the court thinking of winning. We were aware of Brazil’s strength, they are more experience than us, and they have competed in world championships and world leagues. We were able to come out of our difficultes with a tactical serve and blocking to recover climb out from losing 2-0”.