Dominican Republic still undefeated in Pool A

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 4, 2016 – Hosts Dominican Republic defeated a battling Colombia 3-1 (25-13, 17-25, 25-18, 25-18) for their third victory in as many days in Pool A at the XV Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup.

Veteran Annerys Vargas registered six blocks as the Dominicans held a 13-9 advantage in the blocking category. The winners also claimed a 6-4 lead in aces.

Gina Mambru was the best Dominican scorer with 19 points, including four aces, followed by Brayelin Martínez who had 16 points. Lisvel Eve and Vargas finished with 11 and 10, respectively. Colombia’s Kenny Moreno had a match-high 25 points in the losing effort.

“We lost one set, but it was because Colombia played well and deserved it,” said Bethania De la Cruz, the Dominican captain. “They played good defense and battled all the way.”

“It was a tough match as expected but after the first set everybody on our team played harder and harder,” said Colombian Maria Marin. “Tomorrow we go against Mexico and then Venezuela. We need to win those two matches to qualify to the Grand Prix.”

“I am glad for the victory as we are getting closer to our first objective,” said Marcos Kwiek, the coach of Dominican Republic. “Our next two matches are against teams from our zone (Canada and Puerto Rico). Today we didn’t receive as well as we can, but Colombia served very well and deserves credit.”

“It is a good feeling,” said Eduardo Guillaume, the coach of Colombia. “Today we had a good service game and played good defense. Also we had good sequence of attacks.”