Brazil books ticket to the semifinal

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, July 5, 2011 - Brazil booked the ticket to the semifinals of the Women’s Pan American Volleyball Cup by defeating USA 3-2 (28-30, 25-18, 25-19, 17-25, 15-11) in the last day of round robin action to finish Pool B with a perfect 5-0 win-loss record.

It was an exciting match between two of the best teams in the world with a successful outcome for the Brazilians In front of a sealed crowd at Universidad Ciudad Juarez. USA had a 4-1 win-lose record will stand up against Argentina in quarterfinals.

USA won the first set and then Brazil tied, from there on it was anybody’s game but the victory went to Brazil as they had a flawless last set.

Sheila Castro led her team’s victory with one spectacular performance with 31 points. Thaisa Menezes added 16 and Fabiana Claudino and Fernanda Rodrigues had 13 and 10 respectively. For the Americans, Megan Hodge was top scorer with 19 points and Foluke Akinradewo scored 17.

Fabiana Claudino with a pleasant voice said: “Both teams fought for the win, but thank God we won and I want to thank the public that cheered for us the whole match.”

“Another tough match against Brazil, my congratulations for them, we did well today and I´m proud of team,” said Jennifer Tamas.

Jose Roberto Gimaraes said: “The tie-break is always complicated, we battled from start to finish and it was very competitive, but our serves were decisive in the end.”

USA’s Coach Hugh McCutcheon congratulated Brazil and expressed: “I know that both teams will learn from today’s match, we did a great effort, USA is improving and there´s still much ahead in the tournament.”