homepage

 

 

Argentina Offense Defeats Venezuela

 

   

RENO, USA (Aug. 13, 2015) – Argentina showed its strengths as it defeated Venezuela, 25-23, 25-21, 25-21 in a pool play match on Thursday at the Reno Events Center.

 

Argentina (2-0) will finish pool play on Friday against the United States. Venezuela (1-1) will play Mexico.

 

Argentina led in spikes (49-35) and aces (3-1). Venezuela the blocking 7-4 and also scored on 22 Argentina errors while committing 19. Argentina’s hitting efficiency was .389 while Venezuela’s was .276.

 

Argentina outside hitter Lisandro Zanotti led all scorers with 15 points on 12 spikes and a match-high three aces. Middle blocker Pablo Guzman added 12 points on spikes.

 

Venezuela was paced by opposite Kervin Pinerua who had 13 points on 12 spikes and one block.

 

Argentina led the first set 11-7 before Venezuela climbed back into the match and tied the score at 19-19. At 23-23, Argentina scored twice for the victory. Argentina led 21-16 in the second set. Venezuela again closed the gap to 23-21, but the comeback stalled and Argentina went on to win. Argentina led 19-16 in the third set. Venezuela fought back to make it 21-20, but Argentina again pulled away.

 

Venezuela captain Kervin Pinerua

“We weren’t able to get the points at the right times. We played good defense but we couldn’t wrap up the point. Tomorrow we’re looking forward to a strong match against Mexico.”

 

Venezuela coach Vicenzo Nacci

“We played against a very organized and complete team. I was happy about how my players performed but Argentina played a better game. We were happy with our blocking but we weren’t able to execute in our transition. Our sideout game was good but we missed a lot of serves. We must continue on with the rest of the event.”

 

Argentina coach Martin Lopez

“They are a strong rival. We were able to succeed in the back-and-fourth game where we were able to gain a lot of transition points. The other team had a lot of errors in their serve and that helped a lot. We maintained our rotations and it worked efficiently in order to close out the match.”

 

Argentina captain Demian Gonzalez

“We played a lot better today than yesterday. Our match tomorrow against the US is the local team and that’s a big match.”