COLIMA, Mexico, June 29, 2007.- Cuban middle-blocker Nancy Carrillo was elected as the Most Valuable Player of the Sixth Annual Women’s Pan American Cup won by her team with a victory over Brazil.

Carrillo was also de best attacker and the best server of the twelve-team competition, a qualifier for the 2008 FIVB World Grand Prix.

Dominicans Bethania de la Cruz and Carmen Rosa Caso resulted in the best scorer and libero and Canadians Tasha Holness and Larissa Cundy were the best blocker and setter respectively.

Peruvian Vanessa Palacios and Brazilian Camila Brait were the top receiver and defender of the sixth edition of the intercontinental event. More Spanish 

Nancy Carrillo

COLIMA, Mexico, June 29, 2007.- Cuba once again proved that there is no substitute for experience and won the Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup for the fourth time in six years.

The poised Olympic bronze medallists took the title at the sixth edition of the intercontinental event by teaching a volleyball lesson to the Junior Team of Brazil. They won in straight sets by scores of  25-14, 25-21, 25-20.

The Cubans employed their trademark strong serves to neutralize the Brazilian squad during a match that lasted just 69 minutes. More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 29, 2007.-  Cindy Rondon and Milagros Cabral combined for 38 points carrying the Dominican Republic to a third place finish at the Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup.

Rondon had 20 points and Cabral added 18 in the 25-19, 26-28, 25-18, 28-26 victory over the USA. Bethania de la Cruz had 16 and Annerys Vargas and Cosiris Rodriguez contributed 11 and 9 points respectively.  More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 28, 2007.- Cuba will meet Brazil in the gold medal match of the Women’s Pan American Cup after defeating Dominican Republic in straight sets 28-26, 25-22, 25-18.

It was a seesaw battle for the first two sets but Cuba completely overwhelmed in the third with powerful serves and well executed blocks despite a late reaction by the losers.

 More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 28, 2007.- Brazil rolled past USA in straight sets and advanced to the championship match of the Sixth Annual Women’s Pan American Cup.

The young Brazilians displayed a tight defense combined with thunderous spikes in winning 25-15, 25-15, 25-18. They will meet in the gold medal match against the winner of Cuba and Dominican Republic in the other semi final.  More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 28, 2007.- Puerto Rico climbed back to win a five-setter and qualified in the fifth position of the Pan American Women’s Cup with a victory against Argentina.

After losing the first two sets, the Puerto Ricans recovered and defeated a tired Argentinean side 21-25, 15-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-10.

Eva Cruz and Karina Ocasio paced Puerto Rico with 17 and 15 points respectively and Sheila Ocasio and Aury Cruz had 12 and 10. More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 28, 2007.- Peru won the match for the seventh position of the Women’s Pan American Cup in defeating Costa Rica in straight sets (25-14, 25-17, 25-22.”

Jessenia Uceda and Patricia Soto led Peru with 11 and 10 points respectively and Leyla Chihuán and Yulissa Samudio had 9 and 8 points. Karen Cope had 14 points for Costa Rica and Paola Ramirez scored 9.

“The team is improving and we need to keep working hard in order to get a good result at the Pan American Games,” More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

Governor of Colima offered a dinner to volleyball authorities

Betina Schmidt is the prettiest face of the Pan Am Cup

COLIMA, Mexico,- Blondie Betina Schmidt was elected the prettiest face among all participants in the Sixth Annual Women’s Pan American Cup in a poll conducted by “Ecos de la Costa” a local daily newspaper.

Schmidt, who sports blue eyes and a pony-tail, is the 18 years-old setter of the Brazilian young team.

Americans Cynthia Barboza and Candace Lee finished second and third respectively, in the off court competition. More Spanish

COLIMA, Mexico, June 27, 2007.- Brazil made it to the Final Four round of the Women’s Pan American Cup with a triumph over Argentina in consecutive sets by scores of 25-11, 25-18, 25-19.

The victory qualified the Brazilians to the next year FIVB World Grand Prix. They will meet USA in the semi finals of Thursday.

Natalia Pereira, Ingrid Felix and Camila Monteiro led Brazil with 14, 13 and 11 points respectively and Silvana Papini added 9. More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 27,2007.-Spectacular Bethania de la Cruz scored 26 points and Cindy Rondon had 9 blocks sending the Dominican Republic to a five-set victory over Puerto Rico in the Sixth Annual Pan American Cup. The score was 25-17, 22-25, 25-27, 25-17, 15-7.

The victory qualified Dominican Republic to the semi finals against Cuba and also to the 2008 FIVB World Grand Prix.

The Dominicans built a high wall in the last two sets and repeatedly blocked the Puerto Rico killing attempts. More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 27, 2007.- Canada defeated Mexico in four sets  (25-12, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22) and qualified in the ninth position of the Sixth Women’s Pan American Cup.

Canadians Stacey Gordon and Tasha Holness shared the scoring lead with 16 points apiece and Emely Cordonier and Tiffany Dodds had 12 and 11 respectively.

Mexican Martha Revuelta was the best scorer of the match with 18 points. More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 27, 2007.- Uruguay won the match for the eleventh position of the Women’s Pan American Cup by defeating Trinidad & Tobago in straight sets 25-20, 25.14, 25-18.

Florencia Aguirre led three players of Uruguay in double-figures with 12 points. Lucia Guigou and Eugenia Nieto each had 10. Reeza Gramt and Shula Hamilton scored 8 points apiece for Trinidad & Tobago.“After a slow start due to some kind of pressure, we started to serve better and that was the key for us,” said Rafael Codina, the Uruguayan coach. “Trinidad & Tobago has good talented players with good future.” More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 25, 2007.- USA joined Cuba as the first two teams with tickets to the FIVB 2008 World Grand Prix by defeating Mexico 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-11) and winning Pool A of the Women’s Pan American Cup.

The Americans are in the semi final round and will return to action on Thursday against Brazil or Argentina. Cuba will meet the winner between Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in quarterfinals.

The winners used their size advantage to dominate the game at the net and also located well their variety of spikes. More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 25, 2007.- Cuba became the first team to earn a ticket to the FIVB 2008 World Grand Prix by defeating Brazil 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-18) and winning Pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup.

As Pool winners, the Cubans advanced to the semi final round of the event and are secured to finish as one of the top three teams from NORCECA Confederation in this annual intercontinental competition. More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 25, 2007.- The Dominican Republic relied on its powerful serves and attacks to defeat Argentina 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-20) finishing with a 4-1 record in Pool A of the Women’s Pan American Cup.

The Argentineans battled hard in the third set and the score was close until the teams tied at 19-all when the Dominicans fired with power.

Dominican Milagros Cabral was the best scorer of the match with 15 points and Cindy Rondon and Bethania de la Cruz each added 11. Rondon was sharp with 9 kills in 12 attempts. More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 25, 2007.- The consistent blocking of Puerto Rico played a key role in the victory over Canada 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-18) in Pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup.

With the spiking attempts of Canada crashing against their solid wall, the Puerto Ricans prevailed in the first and built a cushion lead in the second to pave the way to the triumph. Puerto Rico finished the preliminary round with 4-1 mark and Canada was just the opposite. More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 25, 2007.- Costa Rica (2-3) finished its play in the preliminary round in Pool A with a victory over Trinidad & Tobago (0-5) in straight sets by scores of 25-10, 26-24, 25-18.

The Trinidadians were denied a win in the second set when equalled at 24-all Costa Ricans Paola Ramirez and Onicka Pinock spiked and served to prevail.

Ramirez led Costa Rica with 9 points and Karen Cope and Angela Willis each had 7. Darlene Ramdin led Trinidad & Tobago with 10.

“In the first set we served pretty well but in the second some kind we lost the focus,” said Verania Willis. “It was the same in the third set but thanks to the Lord we recovered on time.” More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 25, 2007.- Peru got its second win in Pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup by rolling past Uruguay 25-14, 25-18, 25-13 in a match between South Americans.

The Peruvians overmatched their opponents 13-1 in the blocking category and the comfortable margin during the whole contest allowed Coach Enio Figueiredo to use his reserve players.

Patricia Soto led Peru with 9 points and Jessenia Uceda, Yulissa Samudio and Leyla Chihuan each contributed 7 tallies. Florencia Aguirre topped Uruguay with 14. More Spanish  P-2 form   Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 24, 2007.- Dominican Republic handed Mexico its third consecutive loss by defeating the host team of the Pan American Women’s Cup in straight sets 25-10, 25-16, 25-13.

The Dominicans used all their weapons with big bombs and pulverized the hopes of the Mexican side since the early beginning. Bethania de la Cruz paced the Dominicans with 18 points and Annerys Vargas added 13 while Milagros Cabral and Cindy Rondon had 9 apiece. More Spanish  P-2 form   Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 24, 2007.- Cuba shook off from a slow start and defeated Peru 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-20) in Pool B action of the Pan American Women’s Cup.

The Cubans built a high wall late in the first set and stopped the Peruvian attack almost completely. They finished with 14 blocks compared with just 2 by the losers. Veteran Yumilka Ruiz and Rosir Calderon scored 14 apiece for Cuba and Nancy Carrillo added 12 including three blocks. More Spanish  P-2 form Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 24, 2007.- Argentina secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Pan American Cup with a straight sets (25-19, 25-15, 25-15) against Costa Rica in Pool A.

Karina Pacheco and Antonela Bortolozzi had 11 and 10 points for Argentina and no player from Costa Rica reached the double-figures in scoring. “We are very happy with this historic victory for Argentina in the Pan American Cup,” said Coach Carlos DiLonardo. More Spanish  P-2 form   Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 24, 2007.- The Brazil Junior Team lost a set but at the end it emerged as a 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19 winner against a resilient Canada, improving to 4-0 its record in Pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup.

The U-20 Team who will represent Brazil at the World Championships next month in Thailand is basically the same group of players crowned as U-18 champions two years ago in Macau, China. Natalia Pereira paced Brazil with 21 points and Silvana Papini added 11. More Spanish  P-2 form   Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 24, 2007.- USA maintained its perfect record in four outings in Pool A of the Women’s Pan American Cup rolling past Trinidad & Tobago in consecutive sets 25-8, 25-9, 25-5 on Sunday morning.

The Americans, who much needed a break after playing five intense sets the day before, used devastating kills that were too much for the young and inexperienced Trinidadians. More Spanish  P-2 form   Photo Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 24, 2007.- Puerto Rico used all its players during an easy victory in three sets  (25-17, 25-19, 25-16) over Uruguay in Pool B of the Women’s Pan American Cup on Sunday.

Vanessa Velez and Eva Cruz with 11 and 9 points led the scoring for the winners while Florencia Aguirre with 9 tallies was tops for Uruguay. Velez and Cruz included 4 and 3 blocks respectively. More Spanish  P-2 form   Photos Courtesy of Milenio

COLIMA, Mexico, June 23, 2007.- The more consistent blocking was the key in the five-set victory of Costa Rica over Mexico in the last match of Saturday in the Women’s Pan American Cup. The score was 25-15, 15-25, 22-25, 26-24, 16-14.

The Costa Ricans outscored their opponents 1