Dominican Republic to meet Brazil for the gold medal

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, July 8, 2011 - Defending champions Dominican Republic will play against Brazil for the gold medal of the Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup following a 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-21) victory over USA in the last match of Friday.

Prisilla Rivera registered 25 points while Bethania De la Cruz added 17 to help the winning cause. Milagros Cabral and Annerys Vargas added 13 and 11 respectively.

American Megan Hodge led the defeated side with 19 points. Other USA players in double figures were Foluke Akinradewo, Jordan Larson and Nicole Fawcett with 15, 13 and 11 respectively.

“We are very happy because we knew it was going to be a tough match,” Dominican Milagros Cabral said. “We had a slow start but the put everything together starting in the second set. We were able to touch many balls in the blocking and set up our counterattacks.”

“It was a hard fought match and unfortunately we came up short tonight,” USA Jennifer Joyner-Tamas said.

“I am very happy because you don’t win very often against a team like USA,” Dominican Republic’s coach Marcos Kwiek said. “It is early in the year and we are going to face them again in the NORCECA Championship and the Olympic Qualification Tournament.”

Kwiek added: “We came here with three objectives and two of them have been fulfilled. First  to get the ticket to the World Grand Prix, second to reach the Finals and third to win the gold medal here.”

Hugh McCutcheon, coach of USA, said: “It was a deserved victory. Tonight was a lesson to learn as they exploded some of our weaknesses. It is early in the season and we need to plan in the short term about tomorrow’s match and in the long term to make a few changes in our team before the Grand Prix.”