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Argentina against Dominican

in final of U18 Cup

 

   

HAVANA, Cuba, March 21, 2015 – Argentina dominated Cuba 25-15, 25-13, 18-25 and 25-22 in semifinals and will meet Dominican Republic this Sunday for the gold medal of the III Girls’ U18 Pan American Cup at the Coliseum of the Sports City.

 

“We are very happy as these girls, who had never reached a continental final, have made a great effort to make Argentina try to repeat the success attained by that team in 2011 which was champion of the very first edition held in Tijuana”, stated, touched, the coach, Mauro Silvestre.

 

Volleyball in Argentina is growing and I confess that Cuba has always been a double reference for us. We have copied much of the academy from the Island, above all their attack and game. So we are so happy for having won over them as we had to scout them much to be able to counteract their physical power, spikes, and blocks”, assured.

 

In the triumph, the top scorers were the South Americans: Arahí Tosi (14) and Brenda Churin (12). On the host team, Diaris Pérez (11) and the captain Aidachi Aguero (10) stood out.

 

Precisely, Aidachi congratulated the Argentineans as they knew to get the most of the passive attitude with which the Cuban team entered the court. ”When we reacted and wanted to smash at the end it was not enough to stop them.”

 

The South American captain, Azul Benítez, excited, said that “we knew we had to play with everything we had to break a court where we had the spectators against us. However we are accustomed to our team playing with impetus and attitude in each match.”

 

Tomás Fernández, Cuban coach, indicated that “the Argentineans follow a manual and play together in the Metropolitan League. They have played several games and have an unbelievable ball control which made my girls on nerves in the reception and our main strength is through the centre of the net. Moreover, the block did not work out and made me improvise. They did not let us play because of their good service and our attack was not precise in addition to the anxiety for the victory. Now it will be very hard to meet Puerto Rico again for the bronze. We defeated them, but that team has grown up.”

 

FINAL COMPETITION SCHEDULE:

 

5TH place match: (14:00, local time) Mexico vs. Peru

Bronze match: (16:00, local time) Puerto Rico vs. Cuba

Gold match: (18:00, local time) Dominican Republic vs. Argentina

 

Medallists in previous Cups:

 

2011 (Tijuana): Argentina – Mexico – Dominican Republic

2013 (Guatemala): Brasil – Puerto Rico – Dominican Republic