MEXICALI, Baja California, June 3, 2008.- USA finished the preliminary round in rPool A of the Pan American Cup with a 4-1 record and a points-ratio of 1.287 by defeating Trinidad & Tobago in straight sets 25-11, 25-11, 25-14 on Tuesday.

Two other teams –Dominican Republic and Argentina- still have chances of leading the group and advance directly to the semi final phase. In their five matches, the Americans scored 408 points and allowed 317.

Cynthia Barboza had 12 points for USA and Alexis Crimes and Alexandra Klineman contributed 10 apiece. Rheeza Grant had 10 for the losing team.

“This is a young team by age number but they have a lot of experience and they play very well,” said veteran libero Stacy Sykora. “I like playing with young people because they have a lot of energy and volleyball is fun again for me.”