Nicaragua Defeats Dominican Republic in

Five Sets to Finish Seventh 

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, November 23, 2025.– Nicaragua earned a 3-2 victory (15-25, 25-19, 10-25, 25-21, 15-8) over the Dominican Republic to secure seventh place at the NORCECA U17 Boys’ Continental Championship. 

In a match full of momentum swings, Nicaragua came from behind twice, taking the second and fourth sets. In the decisive fifth, the hosts jumped to an early 5-1 lead and extended it to 10-4, a gap that proved impossible for the Dominicans. 

The Dominican Republic showed strong control in the first and third sets, particularly in the third, where they produced runs of up to six unanswered points. However, the tide shifted in the fourth set as Nicaragua improved its reception and took the lead from point 18 onward, a key stretch that made the difference. The same pattern followed in the fifth set, with Nicaragua once again building a strong 5-1 start that set the tone for the win. 

For Nicaragua, Carlos Gómez finished with 15 points and Dominic Quezada added 13. For the Dominican Republic, Enmanuel Ledezma delivered an outstanding performance with 34 points, the highest individual scoring mark recorded so far in the tournament, while teammates Darlin García and José Alcalá contributed 16 and 13 points, respectively, though their efforts were not enough to secure the win. 

The Dominican Republic led the match statistics in attacks (54-37) and aces (10-7), while Nicaragua held the edge in blocks (7-4) and capitalized on 39 opponent errors, compared to 30 of their own. 

Jorge Mena, head coach of Nicaragua, said, “This has been a tournament where our patience has truly been tested. They are kids, they are just starting, and this is their first tournament, so it has taken a lot of work for us to adjust. Thank God we earned this result, and we believe we must continue working; local teams need to focus on this category, and together we must coordinate and look for new talent.”