|
GUADALAJARA, Mexico, August 31, 2021.- Dominican
Republic beat Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-22, 15-25,
25-17, 21-25, 15-12) to remain NORCECA Women’s
Champions winning their second consecutive title
and third overall at Arena Astros in
Guadalajara, Mexico.
Dominican Republic won under Puerto Rico’s
force. They recovered from a five-point deficit
(5-10) in the first set, came back stronger in
the second and finally Puerto Rico always kept
them on their toes to the dramatic five-set
finish.
Dominicans led 10-9 in blocks and committed
fewer unforced errors (25-31), while Puerto Rico
led 61-38 in attacks and 6-2 in serves.
Four Dominicans scored double-figures, commanded
by opposite hitter Galia González with 19
points, followed by outside hitter Bethania De
La Cruz with 15 points and middle blocker
Jineiry Martínez alongside outside hitter
Prisilla Rivera scored 13 points apiece.
Puerto Rico also was led by four players with
double-figures, outside hitters Stephanie
Enright and Marie Victoria finished with 19
points each, Enright leading with serves with
4pts., opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie
followed with 15 points and middle blocker Diana
Reyes collected 12 points.
Prisilla Rivera, Captain of Dominican Republic:
“These are tears of joy, we had a great
responsibility to revalidate our title and I
thank God we did. Congratulations to
Puerto Rico for their high-level of play”.
Marcos Kwiek, Coach of Dominican Republic: “We
didn’t play at our game-level; we performed with
emotion instead of reason. It was a great final
match, Puerto Rico did an excellent game and we
were able to control it in key moments”.
Natalia Valentín, Captain of Puerto Rico:
“Before coming here we only had three practices,
we did our best, Dominican Republic was better
than us today”.
Fernando Morales, Coach of Puerto Rico: “Imagine
what we can accomplish if we had more time of
practice and for me coaching for the first time.
I told my players to keep their heads high, they
had a great tournament and Dominican Republic is
a great team”. |
