Lausanne, Switzerland, June 22, 2016 - When Croatia defeated Kazakhstan to win FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix Group 3 on Sunday, Samanta Fabris stole the headlines with a haul of 27 points from 19 attacks, three blocks and five winning serves. It was Angela Leyva of Peru, however, who confirmed her position as the group's top scorer when she added 32 points to her total to help Peru claim bronze against South American rivals Colombia.
If Peru qualified for the Group 3 semifinals in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Saturday, they did so in no small part thanks to Leyva's high-scoring run in the Preliminary Round. And despite losing to Croatia in their semifinal, Leyva was still in fine form adding 27 points to her name against the European team.
Leyva's points haul in the match for third place on Sunday earned Peru a bronze medal and took her personal total for the competition to 203, an impressive 49 points more than second highest scorer Fabris of Croatia's total and 69 more than Madelaynne Montaño of Colombia's. Leyva was also the top scorer in World Grand Prix Group 3 last year with 137 points, helping Peru to second place in Group 3 behind Kenya.
World Grand Prix Group 3 statistics
Leyva (12) scored 137 points at the Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan in May, but Peru failed to qualify for this year's Summer Games.Leyva's total of 203 points in World Grand Prix Group 3 puts the Peruvian ahead of Group 2 top scorer Berenika Tomsia of Poland and her 167 point total. Nataliya Gonchoreva of Russia currently leads the Group 1 scorers with 120 points.
Related news:Seventy-four points increase Leyva's lead in Group 3WGP: Leyva to lead Peru in second weekend