PONCE, Puerto Rico, May 19, 2024. – Malik Britton scored a record 42 points, leading the Dominican Republic to fifth place in Boys U19 NORCECA Continental Championship after a five-set victory, 3-2 (23-25, 25-14, 27-25, 21-25, 15-8), over Costa Rica.
Both teams finished the tournament with a record of three wins and three losses. They also faced each other in the preliminary round, but Costa Rica won in four sets.
Malik Britton, who led the Dominican Republic’s scoring throughout the event, recorded 39 powerful kills, 2 blocks, and one service point. Captain Melvin De Jesús contributed 18 points on 13 kills and a match-high of 5 aces. Outside hitter Ramon De Jesús also scored in double digits with 13 points on 10 kills, one block, and two service points.
Stanley Grant, the top scorer for Costa Rica, finished the match with 37 points, including 35 attacks and one block. Opposite Ignacio Morales added 10 points on 9 attacks and one block.
Dominican Republic finished with advantages in every skill, attacks 66-52, blocks 9-6, and service points 9-1.
Francisco José Lerebours, Head coach of Dominican Republic: “We achieved our goal of finishing among the top five in the tournament. We will continue with the project, work on improving the fundamentals of the game.” Costa Rica is working very well, and they have a projection like ours. Both matches we played against them were closely contested. Today, the boys’ bravery motivated them to come from behind.
Robertocarlo Argüello, Head coach of Costa Rica: “I think the boys got overconfident. The plan was to finish well, but we failed in some crucial receptions that cost us key points and prevented us from catching up; they have two players who control the jump serve very well (number 2 and number 3).”
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