Comes from two sets down to win the title, 20 years after last crown
TORONTO —The Argentine men’s volleyball national team won the gold medal yesterday at the Pan-American Games in Toronto, Canada, 20 years after its last Pan-Am title in Mar del Plata, beating Brazil in five sets.
The team coached by Julio Velasco defeated the Brazilian side 25-23 18-25 19-25 25-23 15-8 in two hours and 15 minutes.
Facundo Conte was top scorer with 23 points, followed by Maximiliano Gauna, on 13, and Sebastián Solé and Martín Ramos, with 10 points apiece.
The victory put Argentine volleyball on top at Pan-American level, 20 years after beating the United States in Mar del Plata 1995.
Apart from the two golds, the men’s volleyball team also has four Pan-American bronze medals, clinched at Sao Paulo 1963, Caracas 1983, La Havana 1991 and Guadalajara 2011.
With yesterday’s medal, Argentina finished the Games in the seventh place in the medal count with 75 medals — 15 golds, 29 silvers and 31 bronzes.
The Argentine team showed a great reaction to come from behind after losing the second and third sets and win the fourth with an outsanding performance by Conte helped by Luciano De Cecco and Luciano Zornetta, who scored the 25th point in the fourth set.
After tying in sets, Argentina controlled the actions, from the beginning of the tie-break. Gauna blocked the ball to put Argentina 6-2 ahead to end the first time 8-5. After the break, the Argentine defence was key in secure the victory as De Cecco blocked to leave the score 12-6 and start celebrations.
Line-ups — Argentina : Luciano De Cecco (2), José Luis González (3); Maximiliano Gauna (13), Sebastián Solé (10); Facundo Conte (23), Ezequiel Palacios (9). Libero : Sebastián Closter. Coach: Julio Velasco. Also played: Javier Filardi, Martín Ramos (10), Nicolás Uriarte, Pablo Crer (1) and Luciano Zornetta (5). Brazil : Murilo Radke (1), Renan Buiatti (28); Mauricio De Souza (4), Otavio Pinto (11); Mauricio Silva (6), Douglas Souza (18). Libero : Tiago Brendle. Coach: Roberley Luiz Leonaldo.Also played: Joao Ferreira, Thiago Veloso and Rafael Araujo (1).
Herald staff with DyN
Source: Buenos Aires Herald