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DURANGO, Mexico, August 23, 2021. - United
States finished fifth place in the Men’s NORCECA
Continental Championship defeating Dominican
Republic 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21) in
Durango, Mexico.
United States had a rocky start having
difficulties controlling the Dominican
Republic’s strong serves. With a 15-7 margin in
blocks and 52-38 in attacks, the U.S came out
winners. Dominican Republic led 7-4 in serves
and committed fewer errors (25-38).
The U.S. finishes the event with a 4-2 win-loss
record and Dominican Republic with 2-4.
Jake Hanes from United States led all scorers
with 21 points, 15 in kills, 4 in blocks and 2
aces; also contributing in the winning effort
were outside hitter Spencer Olivier with 17
points on 12 kills and 2 blocks, outside hitter
Brett Wildman scored 14 points and middle
blocker Merrick McHenry added 11 points.
On the Dominican side, outside hitter Henry
López scored 17 points on 13 attacks, one block
and 3 aces, accompanied by opposite hitter Henry
Tapia with 13 points on 8 attacks, one block and
4 aces.
Joshua Tuaniga, Captain of United States: “We
wanted to play hard because it was our last
opportunity here. It was a rocky start, but the
guys played good volleyball for a longer period
of time; we tried to play better and more
consistently today. Kudos to the guys, we
learned a lot and having this experience was
helpful for the USA”.
Andy Read, Coach of United States: “Dominican
Republic is a very strong team, with very good
athletes that play high-level volleyball and
they forced us to play a level within. This was
a very high-level tournament, with several good
teams, we had six grueling matches and the guys
played hard every single one of them, which
international volleyball requires you to do. We
are ready to face another challenging tournament
in ten day, the Pan American Cup in the
Dominican Republic with a totally different
team”. |
