SANTIAGO, Chile, October 22, 2023.- Defending champions Dominican Republic beat Mexico 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-19) to improve 2-0 at the Women’s Volleyball Tournament of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games on Sunday at the Arena Parque O’Higgins.
Dominican Republic stands undefeated in Pool B and Mexico after suffering their first loss are with a 1-1 mark. Dominicans will finish the preliminary round on Monday against Colombia and Mexico will face hosts Chile.
The Dominicans dominated the first and second sets with strong defense from Brenda Castillo and coordinated attacking.
In the third set, Mexico gave more competition after recovering from being down 16-19 and tying the score at 19 points. However, Dominican Republic closed it with a rally of six consecutive points.
Dominicans dominated in attacking 41-30, in blocking 7-2 and in serving 2-1, benefiting from 24 opponent errors and giving away 18.
Dominican Outside hitter Yonkaira Peña led all scorers with 19 points on 15 kills and a match-high of 4 blocks. Brayelin Martinez contributed 10 points on 8 kills, one block and one ace.
Outside hitter Aimé Topete led Mexico with 9 points all on kills. Outside hitter Grecia Castro and team captain Jocelyn Urias added 6 points each.
Yonkaira Peña, the top scorer for the Dominican Republic, said, “The matches against Mexico are always tough because we know each other well. We’re happy that everything went well. We lost a bit of concentration in the last two sets, but we were able to push through and get the victory”.
Aimé Topete of Mexico stated, “I thought it was a good match. Dominican Republic is a great team, and I’m very proud of my teammates because we fought until the last point, and we’re going to keep going like this”.
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