SAN SALVADOR, June 30, 2008.- Dominican Republic recovered from a 0-2 and made a spectacular comeback to defeat Puerto Rico 3-2 (18-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13) in the opening match of the U-21 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship.

The Dominicanas relied on the left hand of Pedro Luis Garcia who scored 31 points, 29 via spikes. Hayden Reynoso scored 15 and Johan Lopez had 12 to complete the players in double figures.

“All my players reacted well, but I want to stand out the performance of replacement Tommy Almanzar, who elevated our game defending and passing in the last three sets,” said Dominican coach Jacinto Campechano.

The Puerto Rican coach, Carlos Rodríguez, gave all the credit to the Dominicans who made the big effort to come back and “did not let our players to block which is our Achilles tendon.”

The best players for Puerto Rico were Sequiel Sanchez with 21 points, Emmanuel Batista 18 and Omar Rivera 14.