Argentina’s national women’s volleyball team beat hosts Puerto Rico 3-2 on Sunday to win its first ever Copa Panamericana title. The competition, which features countries from North and South America, is one of the top championships in international women’s volleyball, and grants qualification to the Olympic Games.

The Copa Panamericana had not had a South American champion since Brazil won it in 2011, and is historically dominated by the United States, with 10 titles.

Las Panteras, as the team is often called, started their campaign on shaky form, winning their debut game against Mexico 3-0, but losing to Puerto Rico 3-2 and the Dominican Republic 3-1. However, they recovered in time, beating Chile 3-0 to advance to the quarter finals. 

There, Argentina beat Canada 3-1 and then the favorites the US, also 3-1. Thus, the team coached by Daniel Castellani secured a spot in the final for the first time ever in the Copa Panamericana. Argentina had so far only gotten to the semis, winning the bronze medal in 2008, 2013 and 2015.

In the final, Argentina started strong, winning the first two sets 25-17 and 25-22, but then the host recovered, winning the third and fourth sets 25-23 and 25-19 respectively. In the tie-breaker, Argentina started strong and never looked back, winning 15-6. That way, Las Panteras won the title, their first since the gold medal in the 2014 South American games in Santiago.

“I’m ecstatic. We have worked very hard. I’m happy for the girls,” said Castellani. “Resisting, that was the key in the fifth set. We knew that at some point Puerto Rico was going to show their level, that they were going to be supported by the public; but we resisted. We started the tie-break differently and we had control of the match.”

Argentine opposite Bianca Cugno was chosen as the competition’s Most Valuable Player. The 20-year-old was also the top scorer with 124 points. Bianca Farriol, 21, meanwhile, was the leader in blocking for the national team. Yamila Nizetich, one of the team’s most experienced players, was key in her defensive efforts.

“I am happy for this team that has been fighting for a long time, has been growing, has been doing many things right and today we managed to crown it with this championship,” said 22-year-old Argentina captain Victoria Mayer. “It is the beginning of a very long process. I’m happy for the team because they all contributed. The aggression and with the determination that we entered to play, that was the key”. This is a new step forward for Las Panteras. The Argentine team has historically been distant from Brazil, the best team in the region, and is now competing with the top teams in the world. This title only adds to appearances in the last two Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020) and the bronze medal in the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.