USA win the gold and ticket to World Cup

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, September 17, 2011 – Olympic and FIVB World Grand Prix champions United States qualified to the FIVB World Cup by defeating Dominican Republic in straight sets (25-15, 25-23, 25-18) to win the gold medal of the NORCECA Women’s Volleyball Continental Championship on Saturday.

As vice champions, the Dominican Republic team also should enter the event to be held in Japan next November 4-17 where the top three teams will earn tickets to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Destinee Hooker and Foluke Akinradewo were the best scorers of the winning side with 17 and 11 points respectively. Akinradewo scored with five blocks and Hooked contributed three. Dominican Bethania De la Cruz registered 15 points while Annerys Vargas and Cindy Rondon each had 8 tallies.

The United States team held an 11-5 advantage in the blocking category and also was better from the service line 4-1. The winners totaled 12 errors to 25 by the defeated side.

“We really played hard for each other,” USA Captain Jennifer Tamas said. “It was a tough match of three sets. We came here looking to qualify to the World Cup and we did that.”

“Both teams spend a lot of energy in the semifinals and I am very proud that our team was still able to battle,” USA Coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “I am happy with the team performance during the entire tournament.”

“We didn’t play at our level tonight,” Dominican Milagros Cabral said. “We are happy to qualify to the World Cup and now we need to prepare for November.”

Dominican Republic’s coach Marcos Kwiek said: “We can play better than today but I am very proud of the way our team battled through the injuries we had in this tournament. The qualification to the World Cup was our goal and we achieved it, so I am happy about that.”