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HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 25, 2022.- Dominican
Republic recovered from an 0-2 set-deficit
winning pool A over the United States 3-2
(23-25, 24-26, 25-16, 25-22, 15-8) and heading
into semifinals of the Women’s Pan American Cup
at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
The U.S. battled strong to win the first two
sets, by close scores and missing one set point
before grabbing the second. Dominicans’ reaction
helped them jump to a comfortable four-point
advantage in mid third set (14-10) and finished
strong with a seven-point lead. The Dominican
Republic forced the tie-break in a tough close
fourth set, only to come out and dominate the
fifth and final set.
Dominican Republic concludes pool-play
undefeated (4-0) for their semifinal ticket and
the U.S. second in pool A will play in
quarterfinals, waiting for the result between
Mexico and Canada
Dominicans scored on 37 opponent errors against
12, while the United States led in attacks
(67-62), blocks (14-11) and aces (4-2).
Opposite hitter Gaila Gonzalez of Dominican
Republic scored a tournament-high so far of 27
points on 24 kills, two blocks and one ace.
Outside hitters Yonkaira Peña and Bethania De La
Cruz added 17 and 14 points respectively.
Outside hitter Danielle Drews led the United
States with 24 points from 23 kills and one ace,
Avery Skinner contributed with 21 points and
opposite hitter Nia Reed registered 15 points,
including a match-high of 5 blocks.
Niverka Marte, captain of Dominican Republic:
“We had a great opponent on the other side, it
wasn’t easy. We started off slow and they were
aggressive, so we had to find our rhythm of play
to find a way out. We battled up to the last
point, never giving up which helped us with the
victory. We are in the semifinals, but the
discipline to get prepared doesn’t stop until
the tournament ends”.
Kendall White, captain of United States:
“In the first two sets we had a better game,
with great energy, great rallies and energy from
the crowd cheering for both sides. The U.S.
plays every game like a championship game, we
will do the same in the play-offs, just like
this one, we’ll come out to win and hopefully
stop the next team”. |
