The countries are battling to advance to the next phase of the Continental Cup, which eventually will lead to a spot to the Olympic Games in London next year.
The Brazil 1 team (Isabela Maio/ Camila Fonseca) and Argentina 1 team (Ana Gallay/ Virginia Zonta) featured in a great matchup on the second day. Brazil emerged 2-1 winners (18-21, 21-19, 15-8) despite losing the first set on the back of a number of errors. The second set was much more even but Brazil improved their blocking and that helped them take the set. In addition to good defence, they were more dominant in attack in the third set and took it by a convincing margin, 15-8.
"It was our toughest game so far in the Continental Cup,” Maio admitted. “The Argentines are very skilled and we were not playing at our best in the first set. But in the second set we were more aggressive and were able to take the match to a tiebreak set. In the tiebreaker, it’s short, so the team that makes fewer errors wins.”
There was more drama in the game between Colombia 1 (Andrea Galindo/ Claudia Galindo) and Uruguay 1 (Lucia Guigou/ Fabiana Gomez). The Colombians took the first set but suffered a big reversal in the second, leading to a long and dramatic tiebreak set, where Colombia prevailed 22-20.
"We were much more relaxed in the third set and this allowed us win the game,” Claudia Galindo said afterward. “It was good for us to find some calmness as we are always so tense.”
Second-day results:
Game 1
CAMILA FONSECA/ ISABELA MAIO (BRA 1) def. LUCIA GUIGOU/ FABIANA GOMEZ (URU 1) 2-0 (21-14, 21-18)
Game 2
ANA GALLAY/ VIRGINIA ZONTA (ARG 1) def. LIVIA MENDONÇA/ THAIS FERREIRA (BRA 2) 2-0 (21-14, 21-19)
Game 3
ANDREA GALINDO/ CLAUDIA GALINDO (COL 1) def. KARELYS MOSQUERA/ NORISBETH AGUDO (VEN 2) 2-0 (21-14, 21-12)
Game 4
ORQUIDEA VERA / FRANKELINA RODRIGUES (VEN 1) def. SARA FRAIJA/ YULY SALAMANCA (COL 2) 2-0 (21-19, 21-18)
Game 5
LUCIANA FORGUEZ/ GABRIELA ALBANO (ARG 2) def. KARINA CARDOZO/ MARIA EUGENIA NIETO (URU 2) 2-1 (21-19, 18-21, 15-09)
Game 6
CAMILA FONSECA/ ISABELA MAIO (BRA 1) def. ANA GALLAY/ VIRGINIA ZONTA (ARG 1) 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 15-8)
Game 7
ANDREA GALINDO/ CLAUDIA GALINDO (COL 1) def. LUCIA GUIGOU/ FABIANA GOMEZ (URU 1) 2-1 (21-17, 14-21, 22-20)
Game 8
LIVIA MENDONÇA/ THAIS FERREIRA (BRA 2) def. ORQUIDEA VERA/ FRANKELINA RODRIGUES (VEN 1) 2-0 (21-17, 21-14)
Game 9
KARELYS MOSQUERA/ NORISBETH AGUDO (VEN 2) def. KARINA CARDOZO/ MARIA EUGENIA NIETO (URU 2) 2-0 (23-21, 21-8)
Game 10
LUCIANA FORGUEZ/ GABRIELA ALBANO (ARG 2) def. SARA FRAIJA/ YULY SALAMANCA (COL 2) 2-0 (24-22, 21-15)
