PONCE, Puerto Rico, August 24, 2026.- Mexico earned its first victory at the NORCECA Men’s Final Six, defeating the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 32-30) on Monday at the Juan “Pachín” Vicéns Auditorium.
With the result, Mexico improved to a 1-1 record, while the Dominican Republic dropped to 0-2.
After taking the first two sets, Mexico faced a much tighter battle in the third. The teams traded points throughout the set before Mexico gained an 18-16 advantage on consecutive attacks by Diego González and Yasutaka Sanay.
The Dominican Republic responded with two straight points to tie the score at 18-18 and later reached set point first at 24-23 on an attack by Adrián Figueroa. Mexico denied the opportunity, and the teams continued exchanging points until the Mexicans prevailed 32-30 to complete the straight-set victory.
Mexico featured a balanced offense, led by Franky Hernández with 19 points. Yasutaka Sanay Heredia followed with 18 points and Diego González added 16.
For the Dominican Republic, Alexis Cruz led with 14 points, while Adrián Figueroa contributed 13.
Mexico held the advantage in attacks 53-42 and aces 7-3, while both teams recorded two blocks. The Dominican Republic committed 20 errors and Mexico 22.
Franky Adrián Hernández Milantony, Mexico: “The Dominican Republic is always a tough team for us. I think this is already the third or fourth time we’ve played against them. We accomplished our goal of winning today, and now we’re focused on what comes tomorrow.
“I think we need to remain patient. On difficult balls, we have to try to keep them in play, stay calm and avoid getting desperate, while waiting for the other team to make mistakes so we can take advantage of those opportunities.”
Mexico will face host Puerto Rico on Tuesday, while the Dominican Republic will take on Guatemala.
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