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TORONTO, Canada, July 23, 2015 – United States defeated the
Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-18, 25-22) to advance
to the gold medal match against defending champions Brazil at
the women’s volleyball tournament of the Pan American Games on
Thursday.
The winners outscored their opponents 52-45 in spikes as well as
in blocking 14-7. The Dominicans held a slight margin in aces
5-4 and made 27 errors to 25 by the Americans.
Nicole Fawcett and Krista Vansant were the leading scorers for
USA with 16 and 15 points, respectively, while Cursty Jackson
and Rachael Adams each contributed 10 points in the victory.
Brayelin Martinez had 15 points as the top Dominican scorer and
Gina Mambru was next with 13 in the loss.
Daniel Fisher, Coach of USA: “We’re really happy to get this
win, and it was very hard fought. Congratulations to the
Dominican team for pushing us to the limit. There was I thought
some really spectacular rallies. Both sides were competing hard.
I’m very pleased to get the win and we are happy to get another
chance with Brazil as well.”
Nicole Fawcett, player of United States: “The Dominican
Republic’s always been a rival of ours and it is always
difficult to play against them, so we know each other very well,
so it is always a hard fought game and I think that we were able
to pull through when we needed and now we are excited to play
against Brazil.“
Marcos Kwiek, coach of Dominican Republic: “It was a great
match. I think this was a worthy semifinal match. We played a
good game.
We made almost the same mistakes as them. Both teams fought hard
and it was decided in just the last points by details. I am glad
for the work we did. We played at a very good level. It is good
for us to improve. We will play a new match for a medal (bronze)
against Puerto Rico that has played a really good tournament.
It’s a classic battle with a lot of rivalry. It is about playing
with the heart.”
Prisilla Rivera, player of Dominican Republic: “We are
disappointed since we came here looking to win a gold medal. Now
we have to battle for the bronze. But a medal is a medal. United
States is a very tall team and with their blocking they were
able to control us. The match against Puerto Rico for the bronze
is a classic and the winner will be the team with the cooler
head.” |
