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TORONTO, Canada, July 20, 2015 – Cuba leapfrogged Canada for
third place in Pool A of the women’s volleyball at the Pan
American Games by defeating the Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-22,
25-22, 21-25, 25-20) at Toronto Exhibition Center on Monday.
Cuba and Canada both finished with 1-2 win-loss record and 5
points, but Cuba concluded with a better point-ratio with .957
to .873.
The Dominican side secured the first place in the pool and a
direct ticket to the semifinal round with a better point-ratio
than Argentina as both teams concluded at 2-1 and 10 points. The
Dominicans finished with a balance of 1.213 to .992 of
Argentina.
Scoring machine Melissa Vargas had 23 points, including two
blocks and one ace, to lead Cuba. Sulian Matienzo added 13 in
the victory, including three aces.
Prisilla Rivera came from the bench to lead the Dominican team
in scoring with 13 points, followed by Gina Mambru with 11 and
Yonkaira Peña and Annerys Vargas each with 10.
Cuba outblocked Dominican Republic 14-7 and held the advantage
in service winners 7-5.
Roberto García, Coach of Cuba: “The girls played with lesser
mistakes today. They did not fail like in the two previous days.
It was a match with a lot of tension. We did not come to win 3-0
or 3-1, we came to play our volleyball. Things worked out, we
experienced some difficulties, we lost twice in our complex two,
then we recovered and failed again, but it is part of their age,
because they are so young. In the end this was a positive thing.
We are happy for this win, and we have to wait and see how our
point differential is to move on.”
Sulian Matienzo, Captain of Cuba: “We knew that Dominican
Republic was a very strong team with a lot of experience.
However we wanted to go out and give all of our best against
them. We just changed our enthusiasm and showed a great and
different attitude.”
Marcos Kwiek, coach of Dominican Republic: “It was a very
difficult match. The good thing is that we advanced to the
semifinals, even though nobody wants to get there losing a
match. We will have an extra day to study our next rival. Today
we failed too many attacks and that’s one of the strengths of
our team.”
Prisilla Rivera, player of Dominican Republic: “It was a very
bad game from our side. Cuba took advantage of our weaknesses
today. We didn’t have the concentration. Physically, I am not
100 percent yet, but I am getting there.”
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