Cali, Colombia, June, 11, 2016 - Wing spiker
Moreno Kenny's 17 points helped Colombia claim an important victory at home against Australia 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-15) on Saturday to maintain their hopes of reaching next week's Final Four.
Colombia needed the win - the second against Australia in this 2016 World Grand Prix campaign - to keep in touch with Group 3 leaders Croatia, Peru and Cuba and thanks to Kenny and Amanda Coneo, who scored 14 points, the hosts will need a win against Kazakhstan on Sunday and wait on Cuba's last two results later on Saturday and Sunday.
Eliza Hynes had a good start to lead Australia to a first partial victory, but Colombia quickly recovered thanks to Amanda Coneo's outstanding performance. Australia didn't get benefit of mistakes from its rival, and Kenny Moreno took the opportunity to close the first set, 25-17.
The contributions from Madelaynne Montaño grew in the second set, from her powerful spikes to her block. Jennifer Sadler and Sophie Godfrey made one more attempt for the team from Oceania, but Coneo pushed to end the set at 25-20.
Shae Sloane guided Australia in the beginning of the third set, but Coneo continued to cause damage from serve and attack to build an important advantage for Colombia. At last, Montaño and top scorer Moreno closed the match, 25-15.