JUANA DIAZ, Puerto Rico, May 13, 2023.- Dominican Republic will play for the fifth place after defeating Honduras 3-0 (25-9, 25-9, 25-7) of the Girls’ U19 NORCECA Pan American Cup in Puerto Rico.
Dominican Republic will face the winner between Canada and the U.S. Virgin Islands for the fifth place of the tournament.
Dominicans beat Honduras in 56 minutes, with a huge 31-8 advantage in attacks, 7-2 in blocks and 16-2 in points from serves. The Caribbeans committed 13 unforced errors and the Central American a total of 21.
The top scorer of the match was Dominican Ariana Rodriguez with 16 points on 12 kills, one block and three aces, accompanied by middle blocker Julie Arias with 12 points on three kills, three blocks and a match-high of 6 aces.
Marcos Macedo, coach of Dominican Republic: “Tomorrow will be our final, we will come for the best result possible in the tournament which is fifth place. Yesterday against Costa Rica was atypical, they played well and battled a lot, in the end they deserved the victory. Now is the moment to study, look where we committed errors, and learn. All athletes have defeats, and they must learn to improve, maybe without a negative outcome, they couldn’t grow”.
Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras: “It was a bad performance; I understand my team being afraid of Dominican Republic because their level has dropped a lot. On the occasions we had control of the ball we were able to attack, we scored aces and we blocked, but they were afraid to receive. I believe we will face the U.S. Virgin Islands tomorrow, they are strong and tall, but with technical deficiencies, if my girls come with energy we can perform well”.
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