Peru tops Pool A in FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship
The final day of pool play of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship took place on Sunday, July 24th, as Peru and Slovakia met in Trujillo, Peru. The venue for the match was the Gran Chimu Hall, that was filled with Peruvian fans
who were rewarded by a Peruvian victory that was obtained through a clean sweep over their opponents.
Despite the fact that the Slovakian side lost the match in three back to back sets, they did not go down without putting up a fight that was all the more impressive as Slovakia was playing against the raised odds of being in the home ground of the Peruvian
team. The final set scores that declared Peru to be the victor of Pool A stood at the following figures: 25-21, 25-22 and 25-20.
The Peruvian coach, Natalia Málaga, made the following comments in the press conference that was held after the match: “Three matches in a row, obviously we are very happy, we trained really hard to get where we are now: among the top 4. The Peruvian crowd,
for us is like another player in the field.”
On the other hand, the Slovakian coach, Rojko Marek gave the following statement: “We wanted to play much better than what we did; reception, block and attack of both teams were very similar, but Peru had plenty of support from the crowd. Now we are going
to the second round and we are going to do our best”
The start of the opening set of the game saw the Peruvian team take the lead early on at 3-0. The Slovakian side was seen struggling in the start of the set but was able to keep the match close. However, Peru prevailed in staying dominant and ended the match
on their terms at 25-21.
Capitalising on the momentum generated by winning the first set of the game, Peru was able to come out strong in the second set as well. The Peruvian players that played an integral role in keeping the pressure on the Slovakian team were Maria Acosta and
Vivin Baella. The set ended with a Peruvian victory at 25-22.
Starting the third set of the game with a two set deficit enabled the Slovakian team to show some fighting spirit. Slovakia was able to take the lead at the start of the third set of the game at 4-0. However, Peru did not let Slovakia get away with it and
managed to tie the score at 5-5. The set went on to a thrilling climax that ended when the Peruvian player, Clarivett Yllescas, making a kill that won her side the match at 25-20.
As the Peruvian team was able to top Pool A, they will find themselves in Lima for the second round of the tournament while the Slovakian team will stay in Trujillo, having earned second place in the pool.
Tags: