TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 17, 2024. – Puerto Rico defeated Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-21) in quarterfinals to advance to the Girls U19 NORCECA Continental Championship semifinals being held at the Jorge Galeano Gymnasium in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Puerto Rico will know their opponent in semifinals depending on the result of the other quarterfinal match between Canada and Costa Rica.
The Puerto Ricans controlled the Dominicans with an advantage of 37-25 in attacks, 10-5 in blocks, and 7-1 in aces. Puerto Rico benefited from 21 Dominican errors compared to 19 on their side.
Three players scored double digits in Puerto Rico’s victory, led by captain Alana Guibert with 14 points (10 attacks, 3 blocks, one ace), followed by outside hitter Pamela Agosto with 12 points (10 attacks, 2 blocks) and outside hitter Cherisse Atilano with 10 points (8 attacks, 2 aces).
The only player with double digits for the Dominican Republic was opposite hitter Julie Arias with 13 points on 12 attacks and one block.
Puerto Rico took a four-point lead (10-6) in the first set with the attacks by Alana Guibert and Cherisse Atilano. Puerto Rico increased the lead (18-10) despite the efforts of Julie Arias, who was Dominican’s top scorer, in addition to Puerto Rico’s errors. The teams tied several times before reaching the first technical timeout. From there forward, Puerto Rico jumped to a five-point lead (11-6), which increased with Pamela Agosto and Jomailee Reyes joining the net control until closing at 25-13. In the third set, the blocking of Guibert and Agosto pushed Puerto Rico to a comfortable four-point lead (12-8), but with consecutive points from Arias and Estel Santos, the Dominicans managed to tie at 13 points and stay close until reaching point 20. Alondra Adorno came to the service line, leading Puerto Rico to a straight set victory.
Alondra Adorno, outside hitter of Puerto Rico: “The blocking helped us a lot to get the positive result, as well as good defense and consistency in serving. For the upcoming matches, we need to practice having a lot of definition to dominate the games and finish strong”.
Virelys Rivera, outside hitter of Dominican Republic: “In the third set, we had more concentration in receiving and blocking, which helped us a lot, along with better control in serving. Puerto Rico had good defense and pressured us with their serves”.
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