Argentina defeats Dominican Republic to reach semis

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, August 22, 2013 - Argentina defeated Dominican Republic in straight sets (25-17, 25-19, 25-22) in the quarterfinals at VIII Men’s Pan American Cup.

Javier Vega was the top scorer of the Argentinean team that qualified to the semifinals and squares off Mexico on Friday. Vega scored 10 points, Agustin Ramonda, Ezequiel Palacios and Federico Franetovich registered 7 apiece.

For the Dominican Team, Elvis Contreras finished with 14 and Henry Omar Tapia registered 12.

“We lost the chance to go to the World League qualification tournament. We were very passive, things didn’t work, but we must keep on working and going on,” said Dominican captain Jose Caceres.

“We faced a team with a lot of potential and great attack, fortunately for us things were easier and this has been a great preparation for the U23 World Championship,” stated Argentinean captain Juan Ignacio Finoli.

“Our guys were not able to play their game. Anxiety and lack of experience took us to this result, we also failed in our service,” Dominican Republic coach Osiel Vazquez said.

“We are happy to qualify to the semifinals, I think we had a great match and worked to control Caceres and Contreras. Dominican Republic is a team with a great attack and now we will focus on Mexico, a very difficult rival,” Argentina’s coach Alejandro Grossi remarked.