Peru wins marathon match over Puerto Rico

TIJUANA, Mexico, July 4 2011 - Peru needed 2 hours and 15 minutes to achieve the victory over Puerto Rico, 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 25-27, 15-13) in the longest match thus far in the Girls U-18 Pan American Cup.

Peru’s captain Milagros Rodriguez scored 23 points, to be the best of this match. She was followed by Izabot Bravo with 13, and Angela Leyva with 12.

Puerto Rico also had three double digits scorers with Pilar Marie Victoria (17), Kanisha Jimenez (16) and Stephanie Massanet (13).

“We had our ups and downs, also fell in excess of confidence, but in the end we recovered our enthusiasm and won”, said Peruvian Rodriguez.

“The match was very tough and intense. We improved one step at a time but failed in the passing game”, said Puerto Rico’s Jizzyan Gesualdo.

For Manuel Artieda, the key to victory was to keep focus with no mistakes. “If we avoid them, we could make it”, Peruvian coach said, while Eric Gonzalez also recognized the same reason for the final result,

“We made less mistakes than yesterday (against Dominican Republic), but we faced again a really good team like Peru that knows how to play the fundamentals”, stated Puerto Rico’s coach.

Puerto Rico will face El Salvador, and Peru will play against Dominican Republic.