United States edge Dominican Republic in five sets

MEXICO CITY, México, August 19 2013 - The United States defeated Dominican Republic 3-2 (26-24, 25-14, 22-25, 21-25, 15-7) in the first match of Pool B at the VIII Men’s Pan American Volleyball Cup.

The Americans dominated the first two sets, but the team coached by Osiel Vázquez came back in the third and fourth sets thanks to the work of Elvis Contreras, Wilfrido Hernández and José Miguel Cáceres, who scored 22, 11 and 10 points.

However United States’ Taylor Sander and Jacek Ratajczak were keys for the American victory in the fifth set and finished with 19 and 14 points.

“It is always a motivation to play against the United States. It is a team with a lot of tradition and with a high level. We have only trained and went out to this match without a lot of exposure or experience like them,” said Dominican coach Osiel Vázquez.

American coach Shawn Patchell said: “It was a good match for both teams, we felt nervous in the beginning, had some trouble in the third and fourth sets. We could not stop Caceres, but pulled out and improved our service. I am happy for this win”.

Altitude of Mexico City was also considered a factor for both teams. “We practice normally in California, in Anaheim, and now we had to acclimate here”, said USA’s Captain Ryan Ammerman.

“We are at the sea level in Dominican Republic, so we had to work hard on this match and also the next ones,” Captain Jose Caceres said.