Lausanne, Switzerland, August 16, 2017 – Peru enjoyed their first victory, while hosts Colombia and Brazil won their second matches from two at the Japan 2018, FIVB Volleyball World Championship South American Qualifiers on Wednesday.
Peru held off Argentina, Colombia beat Chile and FIVB World Grand Prix winners Brazil defeated Venezuela 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.
Peru began aggressively and forced a lot of errors in Argentina before they finished with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-20) win. Peru’s Jessenia Uceda finished with 12 points, while Argentina Tania Acosta scored 10.
Colombia only needed three sets to defeat Chile and Antonio Rizola’s team finished with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-12) victory in which Margarita Martinez led scoring with 14 points for the home nation.
Brazil also enjoyed a straight-sets victory and took one hour, one minute to register a 3-0 (25-15, 25-6, 25-12) win over Venezuela.
Amanda Francisco led scoring for coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes' winning side with 10 points, while Desiree Glod led the way with six points for Venezuela.
“I am very happy to be in Colombia wearing the Brazil jersey and helping the group in the South American qualifiers,” Amanda said. “It is my birthday today and being able to play volleyball which is my greatest passion is an immense pleasure.
“We are going to continue working hard every day in pursuit of our goal, which is a place at the World Championship.”
The competition continues on Thursday when Peru play Venezuela, Brazil take on Chile and Colombia entertain Argentina.