08:42 | Lima, May 03 (ANDINA).
The Women's South American Volleyball Club Championship is currently being held at the Coliseo Manuel Bonilla of Miraflores in Lima, Peru.
The competition will run from May 1 to 5 with the participation of five South American teams and is a qualifier event for the FIVB Women's Club World Championship, which will be held in Zurich, Switzerland, from October 8 to 13.
The tournament in Lima is being played in a ‘round robin’ format and the club with the highest score on the table will win the ticket to the World Championship in October.
The following teams are taking part in the competition: Universidad Cesar Vallejo (UCV) from Peru; Velez Sarsfield (CVS) from Argentina, Unilever (UNI) from Brazil; the Club Boston College (CBC) from Chile; and the Asuncion Metropolitan University (AMU) from Paraguay.
Playing for the home team, Universidad Cesar Vallejo, is Veronica Contreras and Milagros Moy who return to Peru after playing for more than 10 years in Europe.
Mariane Sidarka Fersola and Nunez from the Dominican Republic as well as Gina Lopez, Alexandra Muñoz and Angelica Aquino are also part of the team.
Brazil’s Superliga champions Unilever are the favourites to win the competition. The most representative figures from the team are "Fofão" (Beijing 2008 Olympic Champion), Natalia Pereira (London 2012 Olympic Champion) as well as up-and-coming volleyball star Gabriela Braga Guimarães.
The Club Boston College, champion of the Chilean league, has Peru’s Keith Meneses and Karla Ortiz playing for the first time after two seasons in Europe.
Argentina’s Club Velez Sasfield has Argentina national team captain Jimena Perez who has returned from the Greek league, fivb.org reported.
Others players include Antonella Bortolocci, Florencia Carlotto and Natalia San Matin. Sol Piccolo is not taking part as she has been selected to compete in the Pan American Cup in Guatemala in her class.
The majority of players in Paraguay’s Universidad Metropolitana de Asunción club are in the youth category and coach Nicolas Sanabria does not have reinforcements for the tournament.
(END) INT/EEP
Published: 5/3/2013