Dominicans downs Honduras at AFECAVOL WCQT

BELIZE CITY, Belize, September 25, 2016. - Dominican Republic downed Honduras 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-17) on Sunday at the AFECAVOL Men’s FIVB World Championship qualification tournament at St. Catherine Academy Center in Belize City.

Dominican Republic suffered the loss of Jonathan Mercedes in the second set, due to an ankle injury, still, the had no complications in beating Honduras while performing with advantage in every skill, 38-22 in kills, 5-1 in blocking and enormous margin of 11-1 in serves. Dominicans committed 25 errors and Honduras 22.

Middle blocker Wilfrido Hernandez topped Dominican Republic with 14 points, joined by outside hitter Henry Lopez with 13 points and setter Francisco Arredondo with 10 points. Frank Alley was Honduras best scorer with 6 points.

This is Dominican Republic’s second win in straight sets, for a 2-0 win-loss record; Honduras drops to 1-1.

Dominicans (2-0) will rest on Monday while Honduras (1-1) faces Guatemala.

Wilfrido Hernández, captain of Dominican Republic: “Our strategy was to serve strong, making it difficult for them to pass so they couldn’t use their middle player which we consider is their strongest player. With each match we make less errors, yesterday we were still tired from traveling and it’s natural for teams to perform from less to more”.

Dante Mañon, coach of Dominican Republic: “We played pretty well, the guys enjoyed themselves and because we had the chance to observe Honduras yesterday, we played more confident. Jonathan is one of my starting players and very offensive, we will use a 19 year old player (very young) because he won’t be able to continue because an ankle injury”.

Marvin Ulloa, captain of Honduras: “We tried to improve our blocking and service but unfortunately the court isn’t in a good stage so we couldn’t develop our game. Dominican’s serves our way beyond Central America’s level. Today we faced the best team of the event and when facing the rest of the team here we will do much better. Our mood remains high”.

Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “The team didn’t perform as planned, the guys needed to defend more in the back row and be careful in blocking. Tomorrow we face Guatemala, who even if we know is the most organized squad in Central America, we have a different strategy. My libero isn’t performing as expected, he played recently in the Pan American Cup and he was in the top three; it’s no excuse, but the court is slippery and it’s something to look into”.