HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 28, 2022.- Setter and team captain Niverka Marte of the Dominican Republic was selected the Most Valuable Player of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup after her team won their fifth gold medal match over Colombia at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
The closing ceremony was chaired by NORCECA President Cristobal Marte Hoffiz accompanied by the Guest of Honor Ana Guevara, Director of the Sports Council and Physical Culture (CONADE) of Mexico.
Niverka Marte shared the podium with her teammates Bethania De La Cruz, awarded 1st Best Spiker and Best Server, Geraldine Gonzalez 1st Best Blocker, Gaila Gonzalez the Best Opposite and Brenda Castillo awarded as Best Libero, Best Receiver and Best Digger.
Individual Awards
From the silver medalists team Colombia, Maria Alejandra Marin was chosen as the Best Setter and Darlevis Mosquera the 2nd Best Blocker.
Outside hitter Avery Skinner of the United States and bronze medalists, received the recognitions for 2nd Best Spiker and Best Scorer.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 28, 2022.- Dominican Republic won their fifth Women’s Pan American gold medal defeating Colombia 3-1 (21-25, 25-13, 25-21, 25-16) on Sunday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
The Dominican Republic also won the Women’s Pan American Cup title, in 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2016. For Colombia, this is their first silver medal and second medal in the history of the event, having won the bronze medal in the past edition in 2019.
Dominicans blocking and service points seized Colombia by comfortable 14-9 and 4-0 margins respectively. The Caribbeans also led by a close 56-51 attacking advantage and scoring on 22 South American errors against 19.
Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz scored a match-high of 23 points on 21 kills and two points from blocks in Dominican Republic’s gold medal victory. Opposite Gaila Gonzalez also contributed to the winning effort with 15 points from 11 kills, one block and three aces, joined by outside hitter Yonkaira Peña collecting 14 points from 12 kills and two blocks.
Three players also led Colombia’s attackers, outside hitter Ana Karina Olaya with 17 points on 16 kills and one block, outside hitter Amanda Coneo with 13 points on 10 kills and three blocks, and middle blocker Yeisy Soto tallied 10 points.
Dominican Republic celebrates winning fifth Pan American Cup gold medal
Niverka Marte, captain of Dominican Republic: “We have screamed and celebrated a lot, I am so happy and proud of my team. I am part of a team of leaders that doesn’t allow anyone to play bad because we are always pushing each other. Colombia has a fierce team, they never give up and we respect them, we faced a great opponent that played well and stood up to us. The joy and team union from the first day of the tournament is what gave us the crown today”.
María Alejandra Marín, captain of Colombia: “This is our first Pan American Cup final, we are happy and hoping for many more to come; we knew it was going to be hard. Colombia did its job, but things didn’t come out, it was a battling second place. We won the first set because we were tactically organized, the rest of the game we committed too many errors, we learn from everything”.
Marcos Kwiek, head coach of Dominican Republic: “After no concentration in the first set, we focused on what we had practiced, studied, and prepared for the game. I believe our discipline was key to win the game. The sets we lost during the tournament were all close, we must be more aggressive from the start”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 28, 2022.- The United States won the bronze medal over host Mexico 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-16, 25-11) at the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup on Sunday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
This is the United States fourth bronze medal in the history of the Pan American Cup and they earned their qualification to the 2023 Pan American Games finishing as the top ranked NORCECA team not previously qualified, Dominican Republic and Mexico earned their tickets last year.
The U.S. fought four-set points (20-24) in the second set, but Mexico extended to overtime forcing the Americans to celebrate their victory in four sets.
United States topped every skill of the game, with 52-32 attacking margin, 11-8 in blocking points and 10-7 aces. The U.S. committed one less error than Mexico (25-26).
Outside hitters Veronica Jones-Perry of the United States led all scorers with 24 points from 20 kills and a match-high of four aces. Opposite Stephanie Samedy scored 15 points on 11 kills, three blocks and one ace, followed by outside hitter Avery Skinner with 13 points on 8 kills, a match-high of four blocks and one ace.
Outside hitter Samantha Bricio and Grecia Castro led Mexico producing 10 points each.
Mackenzie May, outside hitter of United States: “Mexico played an incredible game. This was a chaotic match for us, I am proud of my team for working through some adversity, some of us playing positions they’ve never played before, especially me, so having the team behind me and knowing we were good was great. Now we go to the Dominican Republic to play in the Final Six and hopefully we’ll medal as well”.
Bradley Rostratter, head coach of United States: “I am so proud of these girls, we had anything and everything going our way and the fact that we’re going away with a medal is outstanding; it speaks of their resiliency and their character. Adversity of not feeling too high for some players came and without the girl’s willingness to try new things this wouldn’t have been possible to overcome”.
HERMOSILLO, México, 28 de agosto de 2022.- Cuba venció a Puerto Rico 3-1 (14-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-21) por el quinto lugar de la XIX Copa Panamericana Femenina el domingo en la Arena Sonora de Hermosillo.
Cuba concluyó el evento con récord 3-3 en juegos ganados y Puerto Rico 2-4. Ambos equipos obtuvieron la clasificación a los Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe 2023 ubicándose entre los primeros tres lugares de los equipos no clasificados al evento; República Dominicana y México obtuvieron su boleto el año pasado.
Cuba sostuvo una cercana ventaja en ataques (53-51) y en bloqueos (10-7), en tanto que Puerto Rico controló los puntos de la línea de servicios (6-2) y cometió menor cantidad de errores no forzados (24-27).
La opuesta Dezirett Madan de Cuba fue la máxima anotadora del encuentro con 23 puntos. Las centrales Laura Suárez y Dayana Martínez aportaron 11 puntos cada una.
La atacante de esquina y capitana Pilar Victoria lideró Puerto Rico con 20 puntos y la opuesta Génesis Collazo contribuyó con 19 puntos.
Cuba celebrates beating Puerto Rico for fifth place
Gretell Moreno, acomodadora de Cuba: “Venimos en el torneo de menos a más, este es un equipo joven que está trabajando duro, está progresando en técnica, táctica y en la actitud en la cancha, creo que será un grupo que dará grandes resultados para Cuba pronto”.
Nomaris Velez, libero de Puerto Rico: “En el primer set mantuvimos el enfoque, nos mantuvimos unidas, luego nos costó un poco de trabajo. Aun así, dimos una buena batalla sin dejar escapar oportunidades de anotar, fue un evento largo y el cansancio afectó al equipo”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 27, 2022.- Dominican Republic won their semifinal match to Mexico 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-8, 25-14) on Saturday and will clash with Colombia for the 19th Women’s Pan American Gold at the Arena Sonora in Hermosillo.
Dominicans fell in a battled first set not before recovering from a five-point deficit (8-13) and struggled in the second to overcome Mexico’s offense, only to come out with a dominant force for the rest of the game and move into the gold medal match.
Host Mexico will face the United States in the bronze medal match.
Dominicans overpowered Mexico with a huge 15-1 margin in serves; they also led by a comfortable 10-6 margin in blocks and a close 50-48 advantage in attacks. Dominican Republic limited their errors to 13 points against 23.
Flores of Mexico and Marte of Dominican Republic fight the ball over the net
Opposite Gaila Gonzalez of Dominican Republic scored a match high of 23 points on 13 kills, and a match-high of 4 points from blocks and 6 aces. Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz added 21 points on 14 kills, 2 blocks and 5 aces, followed by outside hitter Madeline Guillen with 13 points.
Two outside hitters led Mexico’s attackers, Samantha Bricio with 16 points and Aime Topete tallied 13 points.
Gaila González, top scorer of Dominican Republic: “We ended up committing too many errors in the first set, we needed to adjust better for the next sets; México took the opportunity very well. For the match against Colombia our concentration will be crucial to come out with the victory, the last time we played against them we came out victorious and the goal will be to do it again”.
Angela Crosetti, libero of Mexico: “In the first set our rhythm of play was fluent and we were speaking to one another about the strategy we wanted to execute. The support of the fans has been of great value for the team. We know we can win the bronze medal playing with a lot of energy, confidence about our game and good communication giving our all”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 27, 2022.- Colombia continued their winning streak reaching the gold medal match of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup over the United States 3-1 (25-16, 25-27, 25-20, 25-20) in semifinals at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
Colombia remains undefeated and will face the winner between host Mexico and the Dominican Republic for the gold.
The U.S. battled off three set points (22-24) winning the second set, serving Colombia their first set-loss of the event.
Colombia held a close 59-57 advantage and a comfortable 6-1 in serves. The United States led 9-6 in blocking points. Colombia benefited from 29 U.S. errors against 16.
Maria Alejandra Marin (15) and Gomez (13) big celebration
Outside hitter Amanda Coneo led Colombia’s attackers with 20 points from 18 kills and two blocks. Middle blocker Yeisy Soto also contributed to the winning effort with 15 points from 12 kills, one block and two aces and opposite Dayana Segovia followed with 15 points on 13 kills and two aces.
Outside hitter Avery Skinner of the U.S. led all scorers with 21 points from 20 kills and one block. Two other players scored double-figures, outside hitter Veronica Jones-Perry with 17 points on 15 kills and two blocks, and middle blocker Alison Bastianelli with 10 points on 7 kills and three blocks.
Margarita Martínez, outside hitter of Colombia: “The team’s performance was stable, we were calm, and we knew how to solve at important moments during the game against an opponent who knows how to play. We lost the second set because the United States played faster, it was hard to adjust, but still it was a battled one”.
Victoria (Tori) Dilfer, setter of United States: “It’s always disappointing when we lose in this situation but plenty of good things happened in the match, it was a fun match. In the second set we did adjustments despite being well prepared, our middles pulled well to success but came too late in the match”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 27, 2022.- Peru took the seventh place at the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup defeating Costa Rica in straight sets 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-13) on Saturday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
This was Peru’s second win over Costa Rica, they met in pool-play; Peru ended the event with a 3-3 win-loss record.
Peru prevailed on 42-26 attacking advantage, 2-0 points from blocks and 7-2 from service points; scoring on 24 Costa Rican errors against 16.
Peruvian outside hitter Ysabella Sanchez led with 13 points on 10 kills and three aces, followed by outside hitter Aixa Vigil and middle blocker Maricarmen Guerrero with 9 and 8 points respectively.
Opposite Angelica Rodriguez led Costa Rica’s attackers with 11 points.
Angélica Muñoz, setter of Peru: “We are glad to end with a win for Peru. The competition was long, hard and there are many things we need to improve, we are going step by step. I believe we did good teamwork and in shows on the court”.
Tamara Espinoza, captain of Costa Rica: “In this game we had difficulties to start and get into the rhythm of play we gained during the tournament. The tournament was of personal growth individually as players and as a team, we came here to prepare for the Central American Games, I am sure this will help us for following competitions”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 27, 2022.- Canada beat Nicaragua 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-22) for ninth place of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup on Saturday at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
This was Canada’s second occasion beating Nicaragua, they also met in the preliminary round. Nicaragua put up a battle in the first and third set, but not enough for Canada’s straight set victory.
Canada led by a huge 52-25 advantage in attacks, they also held an 8-2 margin in blocks and a 5-1 in aces. Canada committed 10 unforced errors and Nicaragua a total of 29.
Three Canadians scored double-figures, opposite Natasha Calkins with 14 points, middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk with 13 points and outside hitter Trinity Solecki with 12 points.
Nicaraguan leading scorer was outside hitter Hellen Traña with 7 points.
Melissa Langegger, captain of Canada: “Nicaragua put up a good battle, we were trying to focus on our side and making it as clean as possible, grinding out every point. This was a tough competition, there is a lot to learn from it and we’re heading into another competition so it will be important”.
Lolette Rodríguez, setter of Nicaragua: “We came to the tournament to give our all, battle every match and we had a great one today against Canada; we improved in many aspects and now we must work on the negative to improve for upcoming tournaments”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 26, 2022.- Mexico won a dramatic quarterfinal five setter over Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-17, 25-19, 18-25, 20-25, 15-12) to advance into semifinals of the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena of Hermosillo.
Host Mexico will face the Dominican Republic in semifinals and Puerto Rico will play for fifth place against Cuba. In the other semifinal, the United States goes up against Colombia.
Puerto Rico’s big comeback in the third set took Mexico by surprise, struggling to get back on track only to extend the match to a decisive fifth set.
Mexico overcame Puerto Rico with a consistent 67-49 advantage in attacks and a 4-3 margin in aces. Puerto Rico controlled 13-7 from blocking points and committed fewer errors (25-33).
Mexican players gather to celebrate their victory over Puerto Rico
Middle blocker Jocelyn Urias topped Mexico with 20 points on 16 kills, three blocks and one ace. Also contributing to Mexico’s victory were outside hitters Aime Topete and Samantha Bricio with 18 and 13 points respectively.
Opposite Genesis Collazo led Puerto Rico’s attackers with 20 points on 16 kills and 4 blocks, followed by outside hitters Genesis Miranda and Pilar Victoria with 17 and 15 points respectively.
Cecilia Rios, outside hitter of Mexico: “It was a dramatic victory, but we reached our goal, the team is happy. The support of our fans was valuable for Mexico to be in the semifinal. Our team work was crucial, we are a family and our mentality has been in evolution, we are coming from less to more, hoping for a good result tomorrow”.
Hector Soto, head coach of Puerto Rico: “As a team it doesn’t matter being behind because there is always a chance for the match to continue in our favor, until the last point of the game. I am proud of how the girls battled in a hostile atmosphere; they were cold and showed what it is to represent Puerto Rico with everything”.
HERMOSILLO, Mexico, August 26, 2022.- The United States beat Cuba 3-2 (27-29, 22-25, 25-22, 25-16, 19-17) in a comeback win to claim a semifinal spot at the 19th Women’s Pan American Cup at the Sonora Arena in Hermosillo.
The U.S. will play in semifinals to either Colombia or Dominican Republic depending on the result of the other semifinal between Mexico and Puerto Rico.
The United States and Cuba challenged each other the entire quarterfinal match, with the U.S. missing four-set points in the first set which only predicted the tough battle ahead.
The U.S. reached a comfortable seven-point lead (11-4) in the third set with Cuba catching up to even the score to seventeen points. The Americans won the fourth with a comfortable margin, and then captured a thrilling fifth set after Cuba let it slip away, losing two match-points and later the U.S. missing three.
The United States led 64-62 in attacks and scored from 36 Cuban errors against 24. Cuba did better in blocking points 16-13.
Outside hitter Avery Skinner scored 18 points as the U.S. leading scorer, from 14 kills, two blocks and two aces. Middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan contributed with 16 points, including 6 stuff blocks; and opposite Stephanie Samedy tallied 14 points.
Cuban Greisy Fine was the top attacker of the match with 20 points on 16 kills, three blocks and one ace, joined by outside hitter Claudia Tarin collected 19 points and outside hitter Ailama Cese added 11 points. Middle blocker Dayana Martinez topped in blocks with 7 points.
Stephanie Samedy, opposite of United States: “We were able to compensate and adjust, Cuba was great, they came out swinging and played good defense as well; props to them. We put up a great fight and we will do the same in the semifinal”.
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