Lausanne, Switzerland, August 15, 2017 – Brazil, hosts Colombia and Venezuela made winning starts at the Japan 2018, FIVB Volleyball World Championship South American Qualifiers on Tuesday.
FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix Winners Brazil defeated Argentina, Colombia beat Peru and Venezuela overcame Chile at the Coliseo Evangelista Mora in Cali.
The tournament runs for five days and the winning team will qualify for Japan 2018. The next three best ranked teams will progress to a final qualifying competition later in the year.
Brazil didn’t hang around against Argentina and finished with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-15) victory that allowed coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes to use all 14 of his players during the match.
Tandara Caixeta led scoring with 16 and was helped out by Natalia Pereira with 12 and Adenizia Da Silva with 10. Julieta Lazcano led the way for Argentina with 11 points.
“Argentina have evolved in recent years and participated in the Grand Prix this season,” Guimaraes said. “We were concerned about this being our competition debut, but the team played well in all facets. We did very well and it was a good start.”
Colombia entertained their fans with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-20) win over Peru in which the hosts’ Dayana Segovia finished with 21 points and Peru’s Carla Rueda with 17.
Venezuela also enjoyed a straight-sets win, 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-16) over Chile 3-0. Medina Winderlys was top scorer with 14 points for Venezuela, while Catalina Reyes led Chile’s scoring with five points.
The competition continues on Wednesday when Brazil face Venezuela, Argentina take on Peru and Colombia play Chile.