Dominican Republic blows out Panama to take Group K gold

ROAD TOWN, Tortola, July 28, 2013-  The Dominican Republic wasted little time in dispatching Panama 3-0 ( 25-10, 25- 6, 25-14) to take the championship honours in Group K of the 2014 FIVB NORCECA Men’s Qualifiers here at the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex Sunday evening.

The Dominicans needed just 67 minutes to secure their fourth consecutive 3-0 wins in the two day tournament, and gain a berth in the third round of the world championships, with Poland in 2014  the ultimate goal.

Showing what stuff they are made of, the Dominicans never gave the Panamanians any time to settle and dutifully carried out their game plan.

The topscorer for the Dominican was their influential captain – Miguel Caceres who added another 13 points to his tally, while for Panama, the topscorer was Ruben Cuero with 4 points.

Delighted at his team triumph, Coach of the Dominican Republic- Osiel Vasquez said, “We came here to do a job and we did an excellent job… We played in the tournament undefeated and get the qualification we were looking for and that is important thing”.

Looking to the next phase of the qualifications, team captain- Miguel Caceres thinks the Dominican Republic possess a very good team, which with corporate support cane get even better.

Caceres believes for the Dominican Republic to go all the way to Poland, such resources are necessary.

“We are going to meet very strong teams in the next round and we will need a lot of training, camping and so on and you need resources to do so”, Caceres further stated.

Meanwhile, losing coach- Horacio Calderon again acknowledged that his team was always up against it when they have to engage the Dominican Republic.

Calderon though thought his players have had pluses from being part of the tournament.

“My guys have gained some experience from this tournament and I am sure better players now”, Calderon expressed.

Calderon’s views were shared by team captain – Domingo Alvira who said they are going to make full use of the tournament experience for future endeavours.

The Dominica n Republic joins St Lucia, Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala as the first place winners who have gained berths to the third round.

The last automatic place will be decided next month when Barbados, Nicaragua, the Bahamas and French St Martin.

But the best second place among the six groups based on the rankings at the end of the year, will also get an opportunity to be part of the third round.