Dominican Republic overwhelm Nicaragua in Pool P

LA ROMANA, Dominican Republic, May 17, 2014 – Hosts Dominican Republic beat Nicaragua 3-0 (25-7, 25-14, 25-22) on Saturday to advance undefeated to the gold medal match of the NORCECA Qualification Tournament Group B to the FIVB Women’s World Championship Italy 2014.

Backed by an enthusiastic crowd at Eleoncio Mercedes Coliseum, the Dominicans crushed their opponents for the first two sets of the match. They slowed down in the third when Brazilian Coach Marcos Kwiek rotated his bench players.

Brayelin Martinez, who only played the last two sets, finished as the winners’ best scorer with 15 points, including one block and two aces. Gina Mambru finished with three aces among her 9 tallies while Yonkaira Peña and Candida Arias contributed 8 and 7 points, respectively, in the victory.

Siblings Hellen and Heidy Traña were the best scorers of Nicaragua with 7 and 6 points, respectively.

The Dominicans blanked their opponents of 7-0 in blocking category and outserved the Nicaraguans 9-2.

The two same teams will meet on Sunday at 18:00 in the contest for the ticket to Italy. The losers will have a last chance to qualify in a playoff competition to be held next June in Trinidad and Tobago.

“It was a good game and a good chance to rotate our players giving opportunities to everyone,” Kwiek said. “Now we are ready to go for the ticket to Italy on Sunday.”

“The Dominican Republic team is extremely strong and better than us in all aspects,” Nicaragua’s Coach Rene Quintana said. “We did our best effort to bring the best show possible.”