MANAGUA, Nicaragua, September 4, 2026.- Canada staged an impressive comeback after dropping the first two sets to defeat the Dominican Republic 3-2 (23-25, 16-25, 25-15, 25-19, 15-12) at the NORCECA U23 Women’s Pan American Cup.
Both teams now hold a 2-2 record, but the Dominican Republic has more points in the standings thanks to its two straight-set victories and its five-set loss to Canada. Mexico’s results against Costa Rica and the United States will be decisive in determining which team advances to the championship match.
The Dominican Republic took control by winning the first two sets 25-23 and 25-16. Alondra Tapia scored seven points in the first and six in the second, while Katielle Alonzo contributed nine points across the two sets.
Canada responded emphatically in the third, winning 25-15, and carried that momentum into the fourth with a 25-19 victory to force a deciding set. Lauryn Hovey, who was limited to three points in the second set and did not play in the third, regained her rhythm in the final two sets, scoring 13 points to fuel Canada’s comeback.
Although Canada didn’t have a significant advantage from the service line, it put pressure on the Dominican Republic’s reception and disrupted its offensive organization. In the fifth set, the Canadians completed the comeback with a 15-12 win.
Hovey led Canada with 23 points on 21 attacks, one block and one ace. Claire Carter contributed 17 points, while Veronica Dickson added 16, including four blocks.
For the Dominican Republic, Alondra Tapia also finished with 23 points, Katielle Alonzo scored 20 and Yalyn Firpo added 12. Tapia registered 22 attacks and one block, while Alonzo had 15 attacks, two blocks and three aces.
Canada held the advantage in attacks 63-49 and blocks 9-8, while the teams were even in aces 8-8. Canada committed 31 unforced errors compared to 24 by the Dominican Republic.
In Saturday’s final day of the preliminary round, Canada will face Costa Rica at 3:00 p.m., while the Dominican Republic will close against Nicaragua at 7:00 p.m.
Matthew Krueger, head coach of Canada: “Today we talked as a group about trying to keep things simple. If we can do the simple things really, really well, then we can have success. At the beginning, the Dominican Republic did a fantastic job; they were really good. We made some adjustments, simplified things a little bit, and I think that calmed us down. Again, we’re getting used to a complete team effort, so the players who came in did a fantastic job. I’m really proud of the group. As this tournament has gone on, we’ve continued to get better and better, and that’s all we can ask for.”
Lauryn Hovey, Canada’s top scorer: “I’m really happy and really proud of this team. We know the Dominican team is strong, but we had to focus on our side and stay focused on what we know we can do. Then we just had to play with all our heart. Coming back from two sets down is tough, but you have to have the mindset of, ‘We have nothing to lose.’ I think we really fought well in the last three sets.”
Wagner Rocha, head coach of the Dominican Republic: “Playing Canada is always good. They have good players, and we struggled a lot starting in the third set, but we won two sets and that matters because we earned points. We have a match tomorrow against Nicaragua, it’s our last match, and then we have to wait and see what happens between the United States and Mexico.”
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