Dominicans overcame Colombia to dispute the gold

HAVANA, Cuba, March 22, 2013 - Dominican Republic defeated Colombia in a close match 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 25-16) in one hour and 48 minutes and now will battle for the gold medal of the U-20 Women’s Pan American Cup on Saturday.

In the fourth set, the Dominicans arrived to the first technical time-out leading 8-7 but rallied to increase the difference to 16-11 in the second time-out. The winners held a margin of 21-10 in blocks.

Brayelín Martinez (24), Natalie Martinez (13) and Pamela Soriano (12) led the offensive of the Dominicans, while the best Colombians were Melissa Reid (18), Maria Martinez (15) and Diana Arrechea (10).

Pamela Soriano, captain of the winners, said that "both teams battle until to the end, we worked hard but Colombia lost the concentration as we went ahead and won, one of our goals here."

Diana Arrechea, leader of the South Americans, highlighted the work of the group in the first two sets. "We value it even more because it was against a team with a lot of preparation and experience.”