PARAMARIBO, Suriname, September 16, 2024.- Mexico began its U23 Men’s Pan American Cup campaign with a 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22) victory over the Dominican Republic at the Anthony Nesty Sporthal in Paramaribo, Suriname.
Mexico is aiming for one of the two available spots for NORCECA teams in the II Junior Pan American Games Asunción 2025. The Dominican Republic is already qualified.
On the second day of the event in Pool A, Mexico (1-0) will face Costa Rica (0-1), and the Dominican Republic (0-1) will play Cuba (1-0).
Mexico capitalized on 38 Dominican errors, compared to their 18. Mexico led in all aspects of the game: attacks (66-47), blocks (9-5), and serves (9-1).
Mexico’s outside hitter Isaías Aguirre and Dominican opposite Adrian Figueroa led all scorers with 23 points each.
Aguirre scored on18 attacks, one block, and a match-high of 4 aces. Mexico’s captain, Franky Hernández, added 21 points in the win (17 attacks, one block, 3 aces). Middle blocker Diego Ruiz contributed 16 points (9 attacks, a match-high of 6 blocks, and one ace). Opposite Lorenzo Martínez finished with 15 points.
Alongside Adrian Figueroa, middle blocker Moisés Ortiz scored 12 points for the Dominican Republic.
Mexico’s serving (4-0) and blocking (3-1) were key, with points from Franky Hernández and Isaías Aguirre, helping them take the first set after tying at 18 points. From the 11th point onward, the Dominican Republic led in the second set, tying the match by taking advantage of Mexico’s errors, with the offense led by Moisés Ortiz and Adrian Figueroa. Mexico led the third set from point 15, closing it out with a kill by Juan García and a Dominican error, winning by four points. The fourth set was close, but Lorenzo Martínez joined Mexico’s offense to overpower the Dominicans.
Franky Hernández, captain of Mexico: “This is the first game we’ve played at this level. We are a completely new team, with some players in new positions, but we managed to get a good result. The Dominican Republic is a formidable team. Our spirit, our unity, we are like a family, and that makes the team always resonate”.
Luther Rosario, captain of the Dominican Republic: “We had problems with our reception, and that didn’t allow us to play our game. We also need to adjust our blocking a bit more. We will keep working hard because we didn’t show everything we have today”.
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