The Panthers achieved a milestone in their history: for the first time in their history, the women’s volleyball team qualified for the second round of a World Cup by beating Colombia 3-2 and thus achieving the two victories they needed in the tournament to be held. is developing in the Netherlands and Poland. Erika Mercado was the great figure of the match scoring 28 points, well supported by the experienced Yaz Nizetich, who scored 20.
Within the framework of the fourth date of Group D, the Argentine team had to work very hard during five sets, but managed to prevail with partials of 25-20, 20-25, 25-22 and 15-8 to add their second consecutive victory, then of the historic victory against the Czech Republic. The team led by Hernán Ferraro, who had started the tournament with losses against China and Brazil, will now seek to add one more success to drag them to the next round when they face Japan on Sunday at 9:15. The objective that they had set for themselves when they left Buenos Aires has already been achieved, but with that peace of mind, there is now the chance to continue climbing steps that until a few years ago seemed impossible.
The first set had Colombia off to a good start, in which they took a quick lead, and despite the fact that the Panthers showed a reaction by equalizing the actions, the “Cafeteras” did not let themselves be bowed down and dominated to go into the break with a comfortable 25 -19. In the second game, the story was reversed, it was the Argentine team that set the pace and despite the fact that a journey of the same matched the score 10-10, they showed a superlative level to take the victory with a considerable advantage of eight points thanks to 25-17.
Already in the third set, the most changing moment of the day occurred: the Panthers dominated and always had the advantage. However, when everything indicated that the quarter would be albiceleste, Colombia equalized the score 25-25 and snatched the game with a 29-27.
With the emotional blow that a duel like this usually means, they feared for Argentina in the fourth round, but a new show of character made the girls’ ambition shine, who prevailed 25-20 and took the definition to the fifth set. Already in the heads-up, the Panthers did not have a good start, but they overcame and won with authority 15-8 to add their second win in a World Cup and get into the round of 16 for the first time. Beyond the objective, a victory against Japan would serve a lot for the next round, since in the new group the matches against the rivals of the group that also advance in the phase are dragged.