TIJUANA, Baja California, May 31, 2008.- Peru held off Venezuela and won in five sets in the first match of Pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup on Saturday.

It was some kind of consolation triumph for the Peruvians (22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 20-25, 15-11) who avenged the loss suffered to Venezuela in the South American Olympic Qualifier won by the latter earlier this year.

Patricia Soto led Peru with 21 points while Jessenia Uceda added 18 and Carla Rueda contributed 17. For Venezuela, Desiree Glod had 21 and Yessica Paz and Jayce Andrade each scored 18 points.

The Peruvians lost the first set while playing at a high level, but then took the next two with a big offensive contribution from Patricia Soto, Yulissa Zamudio and Jesenia Uceda, plus the used defensive game of libero Vanesa Palacios.

In the fourth set, the strong and strategic serve of the Venezuelans allowed them to control the set. Venezuela also relied on the good job of Desiree Glod, Jayce Andrades and middle blocker Yessica Paz.

In the tie-breaker, the Venezuelans jumped to a 4-1 lead, but from that point they committed many errors in their reception and Peru took advantage of them to win the match.