Cuban players celebrate after the comfortable victory over Costa Rica on Monday

Havana, Cuba, March 18, 2013 – Cuba collected five important points with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in the opening day of the Women’s Junior Pan American Cup on Monday. The home side is on a quest for a berth in the FIVB U20 Women’s Volleyball World Championship to be held in June in the Czech Republic.

In the other Pool B match of day one, which groups the teams battling for the only available ticket to the FIVB U20 Women’s Volleyball World Championship, Puerto Rico edged Chile in five sets earning three points to two against the defeated side.

Mexico and the Dominican Republic scored straight-set victories over Colombia and Peru in Pool A, where all the teams already have booked tickets to Brno.

In Tuesday’s matches, Puerto Rico takes on Costa Rica while Cuba battles Chile. On the other side, Peru meets Colombia while the Dominican Republic plays Mexico.

Puerto Rico 3, Chile 2

Puerto Rico came from behind to beat Chile in five sets (22-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25 -16, 15-13) in the first match of Pool B. Daly Santana finished with 27 points for the winners and Kanisha Jimenez added 16. Chile had Mariana Salinas (20), Lucía Lozano (16) and Catalina Melo (15) with double figures in the score charts.

Mexico 3, Colombia 0

Mexico stopped a reaction from Colombia in the third set and clamed a victory in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 30-28) in Group A. The top scorer of the game was the Mexican Alejandra Isiordia with 19, followed by Lisbeth Sainz with 14. For Colombia, Andrea Estrada and Danna Escobar each finished with 13 points.

Dominican Republic 3, Peru 0

The Dominican Republic overwhelmed Peru in consecutive sets (25-20, 25-16, 25-13) in Pool A. The youngsters showed a lot of personality on the court despite their limited experience. Brayelín Martinez was the top scorer of the match with 22 points, while teammate and captain, Pamela Soriano added 13.  Angela Leyva scored 8 points for Peru.

Cuba 3, Costa Rica 0

Cuba beat Costa Rica 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-19) in Group B - an important first step in their quest to qualify for the World Championship. The physical superiority and technical-tactics of the home team were evident from the start , particularly in terms of their attack. Cuban Meliza Vargas led the scores with 17 points followed by Sulian Matienzo with 12.

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