Dominican Republic and Costa Rica to Face Off for Fifth Place

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, September 20, 2024.- Dominican Republic defeated Saint Vincent 3-0 (25-10, 25-11, 25-8) and will face Costa Rica on Saturday for fifth place in the Men’s U23 Pan American Cup at the Anthony Nesty Sporthal in Paramaribo, Suriname. 

Dominican Republic and Costa Rica played in the preliminary round, with the Dominican team winning in four sets. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will compete for the 7th/8th position against Suriname. 

The Dominican team secured the victory in 48 minutes, with a huge advantage in attacks (44-16), a slight edge in blocking (7-6), and scoring more service points (4-0), while benefiting from Saint Vincents’ 20 errors compared to their own 7. 

The top scorer was Dominican Adrian Figueroa with 15 points (14 attacks, one block). Moisés Ortiz and Ronny Molina contributed to the win with 9 and 8 points, respectively. 

Shadron Delpesche led Saint Vincent with 10 points (8 attacks, 2 blocks). 

Luther Rosario, captain of the Dominican Republic: “It’s very difficult to play a match for this position; it’s a mental challenge after losing an important game. The team’s morale is a bit low. We need to stay strong, as this is part of the sport, and we must know how to get back up because we are representing a country”.

Philroy Nero, libero of St. Vincent: “The focus of our team was not here today. Our team needed to focus on passing, hitting and keeping our fire on. Dominican Republic played very well”.