Dominican Republic Scores First Win in NORCECA U19

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 15, 2024. - Dominican Republic defeated Honduras 3-0 (25-20, 25-11, 25-12) to score their first win in the Girls’ U19 NORCECA Continental Championship on Monday night at the Jorge Galeano Gymnasium in Tegucigalpa.

Dominican Republic improved their record in pool B to 1-1, while Honduras stands at 0-2.

On Tuesday, Dominican Republic (1-1) will face Costa Rica (1-1) at 2:00 pm to determine their final position in pool B. Honduras (0-2) will meet Mexico (2-0) at 8:00 pm.

Dominican Republic executed their strategy with a sizeable advantage of 40-19 in attacks and 10-3 in service points. Additionally, the Dominicans dominated blocking 5-3 and committed fewer unforced errors (18-20).

The only player in double digits was Dominican middle blocker Caroline Rodríguez, who scored 13 points on 8 kills, 2 blocks, and 3 service points. Outside hitter Thais Cochy and captain Yalyn Firpo each added 9 points.

Sasha Kawas was the top scorer for Honduras with 8 points.

In the first set, Honduras started strong, surprising the Dominicans by keeping the score close. Thanks to the offense of Thais Cochy and Ambar Hernández, the Dominican Republic regained control to finish the set on top. Dominican Republic controlled Honduras the rest of the match with skillful directed serves and powerful attacks.

Ana Patricia Encarnación, setter for the Dominican Republic: “We were in trouble in the first set. I feel that some players, due to inexperience, found it hard to start strong. We executed our game strategy, which is to play intelligently, observe the opponent to always score, and direct our serves”.

Jimena Aguilar, setter for Honduras: “It was difficult to keep up with the Dominican Republic's pace. The team's spirit was affected. We started with a lot of energy but didn't continue fighting. I hope we can all perform better tomorrow than we did today”.