Yonkaira Peña led Dominican Republic with 17 points in the victory over Canada in straight sets at Miguel Grau Coliseum of Lima on Monday night

Lima, Peru, September 3, 2012 – Brazil and Argentina in Pool A and Dominican Republic and hosts Peru in Pool B served off with victories in day one of the inaugural U-23 Women’s Pan American Cup at Miguel Grau Coliseum of Lima on Monday.

Brazil battled to edge Colombia in four sets and Argentina cruised to the win after two well fought sets against Cuba. Both Dominican Republic and Peru scored comfortable straight-set victories over Canada and Costa Rica, respectively.

Brazil 3, Colombia 1

Brazil opened with a 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-25, 25-20) victory over a resilient Colombia in Pool A. Sara Silva topped Brazil with 25 points, including five blocks and two aces, followed by captain Rosamaria Montibeller who finished with 20. Paula Camila Mohr chipped in with 10 tallies. Colombia’s Melisa Rangel and Diana Arrechea each registered 13 points and the trio of Ivonne Montano, Andrea Estrada and Maria Martinez finished with 8 points apiece. Brazil held advantages of 56-42 advantage in attacks and 12-5 in blocks to compensate their 32 unforced errors compared to 19 by Colombia. The winners had a slim 11-10 margin in the aces category.

Argentina 3, Cuba 1

Argentina overcame a one-set deficit to defeat Cuba in four sets (22-25, 27-25, 25-14, 25-15) in Pool A. Lucia Fresco and Maria Calvete charted 23 and 19 points respectively as the top offensive weapons for Argentina while Tanya Acosta added 13. Calvete totaled seven blocks while Fresco scored four aces. Yoana Palacio led Cuba with 19 points, followed by Alena Rojas with 15, including 6 blocks and three aces, and Sulian Matienzo with 12. Both teams had 11 blocks while Argentina held a 12-7 margin in service winners.

Dominican Republic 3, Canada 0

Dominican Republic brushed aside Canada in consecutive frames (25-14, 25-13, 25-20) in their first match of Pool B. The Dominicans held an overwhelming advantage of 40-18 in attacks and committed 18 errors to 25 by the Canadians. The winners outblocked their rivals 8-6 while the defeated side was better in service aces 5-2. Yonkaira Peña and Lisvel Eve registered 17 and 14 points respectively as the top scorers of the winning side. Jeoselyna Rodriguez contributed 8 points and Candida Arias added six. Canada’s Royale Richardson and Sophie Carpentier each scored six points.

Peru 3, Costa Rica 0

Hosts Peru delighted the home crowd by outclassing Costa Rica 3-0 (25-8, 25-10, 25-8) in the last match of opening day. Peru held a huge 19-1  margin in service winners with Angela Leyva recording 9 aces, and also held a big 11-3 margin in blocks with Raffaela Camet, Clarivet Yllescas and Ginna Lopez each with three. Karla Ortiz and Leyva led the winners with 12 and 10 points respectively while Camet and Lopez contributed 9 and 8 points to the win. Costa Rica’s Evelyn Sibaja had 6 points.

Highest Scoring Matches
187 –Brazil v Colombia (25-19, 21-25, 27-25, 25-20) 3-9-12

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