United States Aces Panama in NORCECA World Qualifier

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado May 16, 2014 – The United States improved to 2-0 in the Women’s NORCECA World Championship Pool O Qualification tournament by powering past Panama 25-16, 25-12, 25-9 on Friday afternoon at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Team USA had all but its libero score at least one point in the match. Chloe Ferrari contributed 12 points in the victory and Kylin Munoz added nine points. Hayley Hodson, the youngest player on the team at 17, notched eight points. Libero Kristen Hahn totaled a match-high 14 digs for the U.S., while Lauren Plum set 23 assists.

Panama was pace by setter Hashlyn Cuero’s seven points.

The U.S. held advantage in all the scoring categories including 43-17 in kills, 6-2 in blocks and 10-2 in aces.

United States Head Coach David Hunt: “Panama is really physical. They are probably the most physical team in this tournament. It was good to see us respond and handle the different options, the different lineups that they threw at us. Some of our players served really well. It was good to see. We’ve spent a lot of time on it.”

United States Team Captain Kelly Reeves: “I thought we played a lot better today (than yesterday). Yesterday, it was our first game. There were little jitters. I thought we came out here today and executed. We watched film last night. We did everything David told us to do. We passed well. Setters ran in-system and it was just a great win for us today.”

Panama Head Coach Reynaldo Ortega: "It's the first time we have played against the USA. Even though this is not their main team, it's an honor to play against them. We are proud of the effort we showed against them. The objectives for tomorrow will be to adjust our receiving line, work on our high blocks and putting up a strong attack against Guatemala."

Panama Captain Joanna Arroyo: "It was a tough match. We tried to do the best we could at the moment we had the ball.  We knew going in that the USA is a team that has a lot of experience. The thing that probably hurt us the most was our blocking. We had a poor block on the outside. We think we can adjust it and win tomorrow against Guatemala and get a chance to play the USA again."