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MORELIA, Mexico, September 27,
2015. – Dominican Republic struggles to defeat Puerto Rico in
five sets 25-19, 25-19, 18-25, 20-25, 15-13 in their first
appearance at the Women’s NORCECA Championship at Bicentenario
Auditorium of Morelia, Mexico.
The scores were always close
while Puerto Rico tried to hold off Dominican Republic’s offense
over the net, which they succeeded up to the third set while
losing 0-2. From there on, the match developed with intense
attacking while the stands cheered for both sides.
Dominican Republic held
advantage in spikes (57-54) and in aces (4-3) while Puerto Rico
was better in blocking (19-16). Both teams committed 26 errors.
Outside Hitter Brayelin
Martinez led Dominican Republic with 19 points; the other
players with double digits were Outside Hitter Yonkaira Peña
with 17 points, Opposite Gina Mambru with 14 points, Middle
Blocker Annerys Vargas with 13 points and Middle Blocker Jineiry
Martinez with 11 points. Puerto Rican Outside Hitter Aury Cruz
topped all scorers with impressive 32 points, her teammates
Middle Blockers Lynda Morales and Alexandra Oquendo added 13 and
11 points respectively.
Continuing with pool-play
matches on Monday, Dominican Republic will face Trinidad and
Tobago while Puerto Rico meets the host Mexico.
Niverka Marte, captain of
Dominican Republic said “the matches against Puerto Rico are
always intense; we are always prepared for a strong battle. We
lost concentration while Puerto Rico took advantage of the
opportunity to extend the match”.
Dominican Republic’s Coach
Marcos Kwiek expressed “our team has been playing the whole year
giving us more preparation, we expected a difficult match, and
in my opinion it was a good match. Puerto Rico got into rhythm
late in the match and that’s why we played five sets”.
Capatin Yarimar Rosa of Puerto
Rico said “we began unsettled, but we managed to hurt them with
aggressive serves and get more established on the court. The
fifth set could have gone either way and it hurts to lose,
congratulations to Dominican Republic”.
Coach Juan Carlos Nuñez of
Puerto Rico thanked the sympathy of the fans, “there’s a good
atmosphere here at Morelia. My girls did an extraordinary effort
for the comeback, Puerto Rico battled strongly to win. Our
offensive was very good in the third and fourth set, and several
blocks contributed to improve our performance late in the match.
Starting with a good match like this puts us in better shape for
the rest of the tournament”. |
