Canberra, July 11, 2015 - Peru's Angela Leyva once again underlined her star quality with a dominant performance to help guide her team to a 3-0 win over South American rivals Colombia in the Group 3 Grand Prix semi-finals in Canberra.
The South Americans will take on Kenya in Sunday's gold medal match, after the Africans fought back from a slow start to beat host nation, Australia, 3-1.
18-year-old Leyva finished with a game high 19 points, but was also helped by a big blocking performance from teammate Yllescas Clarivett.
After a close tussle early, Peru was far too strong in nearly all facets of the game, beating Colombia 25-16, 25-17, 25-19 to book their place in the gold medal play-off, and a potential return to Group Two just one year after being relegated.
Australia took Kenya by surprise early by playing Victorian Karley Hynes for her first match of the year, and with the added excitement of the home team playing its first match in Australia for 15 years, the Kenyans looked well out of sorts.
But coach David Lungaho told his team not to panic, and they responded with an impressive turnaround to take the match 3-1, 18-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-14.
Mercy Moim with 18 points and Everlyne Makuto with 17 were the stars for Kenya, while Hynes finished with 18 points for Australia and Sophie Godfrey had an impressive eight blocks.
Sunday's matches will see Australia take on Colombia for the bronze, followed by Kenya and Peru in the fight for gold.