Dominicans came out on top Chile at U18 Pan Am Cup

DURANGO, Mexico, May 21, 2019. - Dominican Republic came out on top Chile 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-23) in pool A of the fifth U18 Girls’ Pan American Cup that started this Monday at Auditorio del Pueblo in Durango, Mexico.

Dominicans were pressured by Chile during the beginning and closing of the match; they showed their better performance in set two as they committed fewer errors while attacking and blocking.  

Dominican Republic topped Chile 49-30 in attacks and with huge 11-4 margin in blocks; Chile was better in serves with 4-2 margin. Dominicans committed more errors (17-13) than Chileans.

Outside hitter Flormarie Heredia of Dominican Republic scored a match-high of 18 points all on kills; joined by middle blocker Sthefany González with 15 tallies on 10 kills and 5 blocks, and outside hitter Romina Cornello with 12 points. Chile’s leading scorers were outside hitters Gabriela Badilla and María Jesús Muñoz with 11 and 9 points respectively.

Dominican Republic (1-0) will play against Honduras on Tuesday, and Chile (0-1) will face the host Mexico.

Sthefany González, Dominican Republic’s captain expressed “Chile played very well, it was a tight match but our good concentration was key in winning. For a moment there I thought we were going to lose the third set but we kept up with the pressure”.

For Chilean captain María Jesús Muñóz, there are several things to rescue from their performance “we served well and our block was orderly, despite our opponents’ height we attacked. We weren’t able to defend and receive as required. We must improve our energy and face our next opponent with all we have”.

Brazilian Alexandre Ceccato, Head Coach of Dominican Republic said to be satisfied with the way his team put up with the pressure “we suffered a bit because we have one year without playing together and I liked the way they managed the pressure. It’s the first time a see a Chilean team in this category with structure and it wasn’t easy to come out on top”.

Argentinean Eduardo Guillaume, Head Coach of Chile, indicated that his team can do much better “our game plan was to serve strong and defend a lot, that wasn’t the case. Mostly in the first two sets I didn’t see my team perform well, they defended little and were insecure. The team was better adjusted in the third set but Dominican players are very tall, you can do more if you defend”.