Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Four years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, two Mexican women, Bibiana Candelas and Mayra Garcia, received notification they would playing beach volleyball at the Pan American Games. The women's final beach volleyball game is being played today, Friday, October 21 at 2:00 pm.

Yesterday, the team of Candelas and Garcia, trained by Salvador Gonzalez, defeated the U.S. in a clear and forceful two sets.

Three weeks ago, in the NORECA finals, the United States was in first place, and the Mexican women's team was nervous. But they went on to beat Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Uruguay, and in the quarterfinals they beat Colombia. All games were won in straight sets. The Americans defeated Chile, Colombia and Guatemala in group stage and Uruguay in the quarterfinals, but lost a set against the Guatemalans.

The United States team was under pressure and lost confidence. The match lasted barely 32 minutes. Bibiana Candelas had 5 effective blocks and Mayra Garcia excelled in fielding with 6 successful defenses. Candelas finalized 12 of 18 shots, and Mayra got 6 out of 15. Today's game should prove very exciting, so don't miss it.