Dominican Republic Storms by Costa Rica

OMAHA, Nebraska, September 16, 2013 – Dominican Republic opened the Visit Omaha NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship with a 25-13, 25-6, 25-20 victory over Costa Rica in a Pool A match Monday afternoon at Ralston Arena.

Dominican Republic was led by Gina Mambru’s 11 points, while Yonkaira Pena totaled nine points. Costa Rica was paced by captain Angela Willis Lindo and Paola Ramirez Vargas with seven points each.

Dominican Republic out-served Costa Rica 8-3 and enjoyed a 7-2 margin in blocks. The victors also benefited by 19 Costa Rica errors while holdings their own mistakes to 12 for the match.

Costa Rica faces Trinidad & Tobago, which is idle Monday in the three-team group, on Tuesday at 4 p.m. CT. Dominican Republic is idle on Tuesday before facing Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday at 4 p.m. CT.

Photos of the match can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ju819tfhyhcb6kr/J6Xj-IDx-p.

All matches in the Visit Omaha NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship can be viewed online at http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Events/Live-Webcast.

Dominican Republic Captain Bethania de La Cruz: “We started slow at the beginning, but then we got into a rhythm. It was a great way to start out the tournament. We have seen Costa Rica plenty of times in different tournaments. But it’s good to see them again and they did put up a fight.”

Dominican Republic Coach Marcos Kwiek: “I’m happy with the win. It’s about getting more points. The first set was a little rough. We made a lot of mistakes. We tried to clean things up and just win.”

Costa Rica Captain Angela Willis: “Compared to other tournaments that we have had and other games that we have played against the Dominican, I think we did good today. We were a little better in the defense and the passing. Of course we are very anxious and we want to do more than we can do right now. We need to practice a lot to be at their level.”

Costa Rica Coach Horacio Nestor: “I wish we could have played them closer. We did in the first and third set, but in the second we struggled. I’m not happy with that. It’s always tough (when a player is injured) because the players are worried about it and keep looking outside the court to see how the setter is doing.”