USA Continues Winning Streak at Women’s Final Six
GUADALAJARA, Jalisco, September 17, 2025. – The United States
continued its winning streak at the 2025 NORCECA Women’s Final Six,
defeating defending champions Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-12, 21-25,
25-20, 25-13) on Wednesday night at Unidad Deportiva López Mateos in
Guadalajara.
USA improves to 3-0 and sits atop the standings, while the Dominican
Republic falls to 1-2. The top four teams from the round-robin phase
will advance to the semifinals. On Thursday, the USA will face
Mexico, while the Dominican Republic will meet Canada in a crucial
matchup.
The Americans started the match on fire, building a commanding 14-6
lead thanks to the offensive trio of Norah Sis, Kendall Kipp, and
setter Ella Powell. Middle blocker Emily Thater anchored the defense
with key blocks, while the USA capitalized on Dominican errors to
comfortably take the opening set. Alondra Tapia and Madeline Guillén
led the Dominican offense but were unable to close the gap.
The Caribbean squad responded in the second set, showcasing improved
blocking from Florangel Terrero and taking a 19-15 lead behind the
attacking power of Massiel Matos. Tapia blocked Claire Chaussee, and
Guillén fired a decisive kill to put the Dominicans ahead 23-19,
eventually sealing the set to even the match 1-1.
The third set was tightly contested up to16-all before the USA
surged ahead with two Chaussee kills and a pair of Dominican errors.
Khori Louis added to the offense, and Chaussee brought up match
point at 24-17. Despite a late rally by the Dominicans with a kill
and block from Geraldine González, Skylar Fields closed the set with
a powerful kill for a 2-1 USA lead.
The Americans dominated the fourth set, opening an eight-point
advantage (18-10) with contributions from Louis, Kipp, and Thater at
the net. Maintaining control throughout, the USA closed the match in
commanding fashion to stay undefeated.
Dominican Republic’s 33 unforced errors proved decisive in the
outcome, compared to just 10 by the United States. The Americans
also held a slight edge in attacks (48-46) and service points (5-4),
while both teams were even with 10 points from blocks.
Kendall Kipp led the U.S. offense with 18 points, followed by Khori
Louis with 16 and Claire Chaussee with 11. Madeline Guillén topped
all scorers with 22 points for the Dominican Republic, supported by
Massiel Matos with 13 and Alondra Tapia with 12.
After the match, Kendall Kipp praised her team’s resilience, saying,
“Dominican Republic put up a really good fight and challenged us in
a lot of ways. We struggled with a few things at times, but we made
adjustments on the block – we started reacting better to where they
were attacking and tightened up our defensive plays.
Those little adjustments made the difference.” |