2006 NORCECA Girls Youth Continental Championship (U 18)

Gainesville, Florida, USA

July 23-31, 2006

USA Girls Sweeps Dominican Republic for NORCECA’s U-18 Crown

GAINESVILLE, Florida, July 30, 2006.- The USA Girls’ Youth National Team swept Dominican Republic 25-13, 25-22, 25-13 in the championship match of the NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Volleyball Championship held at the University of Florida’s O’Connell Center in Gainesville. USA and Dominican Republic have earned entries into the 2007 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship (U-18) held at Mexicali and Tijuana, Mexico. NORCECA will have a third team in the tournament as Mexico has a berth as the host country. Tarah Murrey finished the contest with 17 points and Kelsey Brand added 10 points in the sweep. Jeoselyna Rodriguez led Dominican Republic with 11 points. “I am so proud of this group of young players for winning this event,” Team USA Head Coach Shelton Collier said. “They were coachable, responsible and made so much progress in such a short time.” Meanwhile, Puerto Rico swept Canada 25-23, 25-20, 27-25 for third place with Joely Narvaez producing a match-high 20 points. Shirley Ferrer and Stephanie Enright tallied nine points apiece in the victory. Becky Pavan paced Canada with 12, Tabitha Love contributed nine points off the bench and Kelly Frittenburg and Shanice Marcelle had 8 apiece. More Spanish

Tarah Murrey was MVP at U-18 Tournament 

GAINESVILLE, Florida, July 30, 2006.- Team USA’s Tarah Murrey was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the NORCECA Continental Youth Girls Championship held at the O’Connell Center in the campus of Florida University in Gainesville. Murrey scored a tournament-high 92 points over the six-day event. Murrey also captured the best scorer and best spiker awards for the tournament. The U.S. captured six of the nine tournament awards with Sydney Yogi earning the best libero honor, Alexandra Hunt winning the best server honor and Kanani Herring picking up the best receiver award. Other awards went to Canada’s Becky Pavan for best blocker, Puerto Rico’s Maria Escoto for best defense and Jenifer Nogueras for best setter. The Final Ranking of the tournament was as follows: 1. USA, 2. Dominican Republic, 3. Puerto Rico, 4. Canada, 5. Mexico, 6. Honduras. Spanish

Dominican Republic and USA qualified to the U-18 World Championships

GAINESVILLE, Florida, July 28, 2006.- Dominican Republic and USA qualified for the 2007 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship (U-18) while securing spots in the gold medal match of the NORCECA Continental Tournament. The Dominicans were pushed to five sets by Mexico, but eventually prevailed 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 30-32, 15-11, while the Americans defeated Canada 25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18. USA and Dominican Republic are undefeated in four outings and conclude the preliminary round-robin portion of the competition facing each other on Saturday and again on Sunday in the match for the crown. Mexico, 1-3 in the tournament, is the second team to send the undefeated Dominican Republic team to a fifth set in the tournament. Puerto Rico won the first two sets of its tournament-opening match last Tuesday, only to see the Dominicans rally to win in five sets. Jeoselina Rodriguez led Dominican Republic with 24 points, Kahoriz Feliz turned in 13, Mayern Nunez added 12, and setter Elaine Santos contributed 9 points. Mexico was paced by Valery Garza’s 21 points, Karla Alonso connected for 13, while Xitlali Corrujedo and Lorena Sanchez tacked 12 and 11 points respectively. More Spanish

USA and Dominican Republic share the lead at NORCECA U-18

GAINESVILLE, Florida, July 27, 2006.- USA and Dominican Republic share the top of the standings with unbeaten records after three days of play in the U-18 NORCECA Girls Youth Continental Championship held at the O’Connell Center on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. On Thursday action, USA defeated Puerto Rico in straight sets, Dominican Republic beat Canada in four sets and Mexico blanked Honduras. The Americans and Dominicans are seated on the top of the rankings with 3-0 win-loss records while Canada fell to 2-1 mark. Mexico is 1-2 and Honduras and Puerto Rico are in the cellar with 0-3. The Americans won by score of 25-13, 25-14, 25-12 and the Dominicans had to battle against Canada prevailing by score of 25-23, 18-25, 26-24, 25-21. In the first match of the day Mexico crushed Honduras 25-6, 25-14, 25-12. Tarah Murrey sparked the U.S. with 17 points, Alexandra Hunt added 10 points, Kanani Herring turned in 9 points and Rachael Adams added 7. Kendall Bateman handed out 29 assists with three aces as Team USA hit 49 percent as a team. More Spanish

Canada, USA and Dominican Republic share first place at NORCECA U-18

GAINESVILLE, Florida, July 26, 2006.- Canada, USA and Dominican Republic share the lead of the NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Volleyball Championships with 2-0 mark after two days of play at the O’Connell Center on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. Canada defeated Puerto Rico in four sets while Dominican Republic and USA defeated Honduras and Mexico by score of 3-0. The Canadians overcame a first-set loss to defeat Puerto Rico 21-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-17 with Becky Pavan pacing the Canadian attack with 16 points that included 10 kills, four blocks and two aces.Maura Hayes and Kelly Frittenburg added 12 points apiece for Canada and Jaclyn Ellis turned in nine points. Puerto Rico was led by Joely Narvaez’s 14 points, Sol Gonzalez contributed 11 points and Shirley Ferrer amassed eight points. Kanani Herring led Team USA with a match-high 17 points sparking the victory over Mexico by score of 25-14, 25-14, 25-18. Tarah Murrey chipped in 10 points, Alexandra Hunt pocketed nine points and Kelsey Brandl added 8 points. “We were confident that if we played well, we would beat Mexico,” Team USA Head Coach Shelton Collier said. More Spanish

Dominicans triumph in five sets, Canada and USA also win at U-18 in Gainesville

GAINESVILLE, Florida, July 25, 2006.- Dominican Republic overcame a two-set deficit and nearly lost a 9-2 lead in set five to win 15-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-11 over Puerto Rico Tuesday evening during the first day of the NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Volleyball Championship at the O’Connell Center on the campus of University of Florida in Gainesville.In the first match of Tuesday, Canada defeated Mexico 3-1 while host USA beat Honduras 3-0 in the nightcap. Dominican Republic jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the deciding fifth set, only to see Puerto Rico rally to tie the set at 11-all behind the serving of Joely Narvaez. Dominican Republic recovered after calling timeout by scoring four consecutive points to close out the match. More Spanish