TORONTO, Canada, July 18, 2015 – The Dominican Republic defeated Argentina 3-1 (22-25, 25-11, 25-22, 25-18) to claim its second victory in as many outings at the women’s volleyball tournament of the Pan American Games at Toronto Exhibition Center on Saturday.

After losing the first set, the Dominicans caught rhythm and dominated in the second and fourth set to seal the win.

Gina Mambru and Yonkaira Peña shared the lead in the scoring department of the Dominican Republic with 16 points apiece, while siblings Brayelin and Jineiry Martinez contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively, in the victory.

Josefina Fernandez and Julieta Lazcano were the top scorers for the defeated side with 12 and 11 points.

Argentina committed 32 errors to 23 by the Dominicans, who held a 9-7 margin in blocks as the two teams scored with two aces apiece.

Gina Mambru, player of Dominican Republic: “We came here with a great motivation knowing that all our people back in the Dominican Republic are following us and we feel the responsibility of giving the people reasons to enjoy. Our next match is against Cuba and is our chance to move directly to the semifinals, so we will put an extra effort.”

Josefina Fernandez, Player of Argentina: “We had a good start, we made the points. We fought hard in the third but could not keep on track against them. Now we have to focus in our next rival that is Canada. We have faced them before at the Pan Am Cup and the Grand Prix. It will be a tough match because they are the local team but we will show confidence in making it against them”.

Guillermo Orduña, Coach of Argentina: “The positive things were that we played with a great balance it was an even match against such a powerful team. We surprised them, but we lost the lucidity that we showed in the first set to work against their double block and began to spike the ball out of bounds. That is something we have to improve.”

 Marcos Kwiek, Coach of Dominican Republic: “We are glad for the victory. It was going to be tough. The Argentineans played very well their first match and also played very well this one. We made some mistakes that we have to correct and have to move on, as we have to think in our next rival to clinch a berth in the next round.”

 Brenda Castillo, Player of Dominican Republic: “I’m happy for this result. I cannot say that we will win a gold medal, because everybody comes here with that goal, but be sure that we will do and play our best set by set, match by match to accomplish one objective. We needed to get along together to get back in the match. I thank the Lord for this great opportunity of playing at the Pan Am Games and to the fans that have come here to support us.”