Mexico (1-3) topped Guatemala (0-4) 25-23, 25-12, 25-21 Monday afternoon during the Eighth Women's Pan American Cup at the University of Miami's BankUnited Center.
Mexico captain Migdalel Ruiz came off the bench to score a match-high 17 points with 11 kills, three blocks and three aces. Martha Revuelta added 13 points and Olivia Meza chipped in 11.
Maria A. Estrada Santizo and Rut Beatriz Gomes Guzman tallied eight points for Guatemala, while Silvia C. Herrera Juarez contributed six points in the loss.
Mexico held an 11-5 advantage in blocks and out-served its opponents 7-1 in the ace department.
"Today was a hard match as Guatemala played hard," Mexico Head Coach Samuel Cibrian said. "We improved our play today and we are preparing for our next match to finish the preliminary round on a good not. I am optimistic about team's performance."
"Guatemala played well today," Ruiz said. "We need to do a better job at focusing during the match. Now we will look at our mistakes from today and improve for tomorrow."
"I feel really good about today's match," Guatemala Head Coach Julio Dominguez said. "At different times I thought we were going to come back, but our lack of experience showed. Overall, I am happy with my team's play."
"Our defense helped us stay in the match as we know that our block is not as effective," Guatemala captain Aneliesse Burmester said. "Going into today we decided that we need to play a little faster tempo of a game."
Mexico concludes Pool A action against Costa Rica on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. ET, the fifth consecutive pool play match before the classification round starts on July 2. Guatemala takes on Peru (2-2) on Tuesday at 3 p.m. to complete pool play.
