Mexico grant a ticket to semis, with a 3-0 win over Colombia

CORDOBA, Mexico, November 18, 2014 - Mexico granted a ticket to the semifinal at the volleyball tournament of the XXII Central American and Caribbean Games, after defeating Colombia in straight sets. Scores were 25-23, 25-17, 26-24.

Andrea Rangel and Carolina Carranza registered 12 points apiece, while Seomara Sainz and Claudia Rios closed with 10 points each. For Colombia, Margarita Martinez and Amanda Coneo, closed qith 17 and 14 points respectively. Mexico capitalized 25 errors by their opponent to gaint points, while Colombia got 20. The host team dominated the blocking game 6-3 and got a 4-2 aces winning ballance.

Mexico will match Dominican Republic in the semifinals, while Cuba and Puerto Rico will also play for the ticket to the final at the Cordoba Arena. “Colombia did not play, we didn’t serve, and we didn’t receive and didn’t set either. Tomorrow is another match. We lost one game but not the battle,” Alejandra Marin, captain of Colombia, stated.

“It was a very important match for us and we played together, united as a real team,” Andrea Rangel, captain of Mexico remarked. “We knew that it was going to be a crucial match, too difficult, too tough, but we studied a lot, because we have faced each other before,” Mexican setter Claudia Resendiz said.

“Mexico was a superior team. Showed the right attitude and played great. We had a very tough first set. The second one was bad, and in the end we tried to recover, but our serve mistakes in the beginning had real consequences”, Mauro Marasciulo, coach of Colombia, mentioned.

“I congratulate Professor Mauro, because he has increased the level of Colombia. They were not in the international stage before. Now they are great contenders. They classified to the Grand Prix, and won medals at the Pan American U23 Cup”, Jorge Azair, coach of Mexico, said.

“In fact, they defeated us at the Seniors Pan Am Cup in Pachuca. We worked a lot with the attack and made the right adjustments against their spikers. I had the same feeling as professor Mauro last night. This thing goes on and I’m so proud of the girls.”