Dominican Republic beats Puerto Rico in electrifying match

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, June 28, 2024.- In a nail-biting match that went to a maximum of five sets, the Dominican Republic beat Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 28- 30, 23-25, 16-14) on the third day of the 2024 NORCECA Final Six Women's Volleyball tournament.

Although the Dominicans committed more errors than Puerto Rico 117-112, they were better in attacks 65-62 and in blocks 16-13, while in serves the Puerto Ricans were much superior 12-4.

Brayelin Martínez led the Queens of the Caribbean with 24 points, while Bethania De La Cruz and Lisvel Eve Mejía added 14 and 12 points respectively. For Puerto Rico Stephanie Rivera and Paola Santiago added 21 points each and Neira Ortiz collected 18.

With the victory, the Dominicans finished first in group B in the preliminary round and will face Mexico which finished second in group A in Saturday’s semifinals starting at 7:00 pm (local time).

Marcos Kwiek, coach of the Dominican Republic: For the fans it was a good game, a close game but clinically it was a bad game, analyzing the numbers it was an ugly game, I think we relaxed in some important moments we believed we were going to win the time that we wanted but it was not like that, on the other side there are also people who play and who study, who work hard, the good thing was that at the important moment the relevant players came out and were able to achieve victory.

Juan Carlos Nuñez, coach of Puerto Rico: We were able to come from behind being down 2-0, we were able to regroup in the game, we extended the game, it was convenient for us to play, it was convenient for us to pick up the pace in the game, we brought some new players from the reserve who could do their job and well we didn't achieve victory but we are not out and I appreciate the effort the girls made.