Dominican Republic Will Face Puerto Rico in Semifinals

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, May 30, 2024. - Dominican Republic defeated Costa Rica 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-22) in quarterfinals and will face Puerto Rico in the semifinals of the inaugural U17 Girls Pan American Cup being held in Guatemala City.

Dominican Republic will meet Puerto Rico on Friday in the first semifinal of the day at 6:00 pm (local time). In the other semifinal, Peru will face Venezuela at 8:00 pm (local time).

Costa Rica will compete in the classification matches for positions 5 to 8, starting with Cuba.

Dominican Republic capitalized their victory with advantages in attacks (39-32), blocks (8-4), and aces (5-3). The Dominicans committed one less error than Costa Rica (22-23).

Dominican team captain, Estel Santos, led all scorers with 15 points, all from attacks. Opposite hitter Rayni Mondesi added 11 points on 10 attacks, a match-high of 5 blocks, and one ace.

Costa Rica’s opposite hitter Amanda Campos led her team with 12 points from 10 attacks and two blocks.

Opposite Isabella Cerda scored the last point of the match with a direct attack. Costa Rica did not allow the Dominican Republic to advance easily, but the Dominicans secured the victory with greater power and reach.

Brazilian Christian López, coach of Dominican Republic, said that Costa Rica surprised them; their serves didn’t have the power they had today, “we studied Costa Rica very well, and today their serves complicated our performance. I had planned to play more with the middles, but that threw us off balance”. Regarding his team, he explained, “we have a lot to improve on, for example, my team must play with strength regardless of the opponent. Today they didn't do that, and I want them to play the same way they did against Mexico”. He added that it is a process, the players are young, and they will improve.

Costa Rica’s libero, Jimena Alfaro, said that her team has all the talent to face teams more powerful than them, “we have trained a lot, we didn’t get the results we expected, and overall the match was good, but the power and height of the Dominican Republic put us at a disadvantage”.