Dominican Men score biggest surprise at CACSO Games

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – The biggest surprise of the tournament was produced by the Dominican Republic men’s squad as they grabbed their first crown ever at the Central American and Caribbean Games after beating Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 24-22) in nail-biting contest.

Elvis Contreras, who was recognized as the MVP of the competition, scored 32 points and Jose Caceres contributed 27 points in the Dominican victory, while Hector Soto scored 26 and Maurice Torres 16 for Puerto Rico.

The veteran Contreras finished also as the best scorer and best spiker of the tournament.

“We had a long training camp in Cuba and I think it helped us a lot to achieve this goal,” Contreras said. “We are very glad about getting this medal. It is special as we could prove we were able to make it.”

Cuba claimed the bronze medal after beating Mexico in straight sets (25-19, 43-41, 25-22). Osmany Uriarte registered 23 points for Cuba, while Javier Jiménez and Livan Osoria finished with 14 apiece.

Venezuela concluded their participation in fifth place after beating Bahamas 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-14) while Colombia finished in seventh place following a 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-13) victory over Trinidad & Tobago in the last match of Trinidadian Nolan Tash who retired after a 20-year career.

Historical Men’s Podiums at CACSO Games