Dominicans beat Argentina to top Pool A

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, May 1, 2013. - Dominican Republic topped Pool A of the preliminary round of the U-18 Girls Pan American Cup following a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-23) victory over Argentina.

Dominicans advance to the semifinals with a 3-0 win-loss record and Argentinians with 1-2 mark will play the quarterfinals as third place in Pool A.The winners led 15-3 in blocks and 4-1 in aces, taking advantage of the 20 unforced errors made by Argentina.

Brayelin Martinez scored 19 points; Gaila Gonzalez contributed with 12 and Jineiry Martinez with 10. Sol Piccolo was the top scorer for Argentina with 14 points.

Dominican captain, Brayelin Martinez said “I’m happy to have a rest day tomorrow looking forward to the semifinal and hoping to be in the final match.”

Sol Piccolo was content with her team’s performance “we played with better attitude and more eager against Dominican Republic who are a strong opponent.”

Wagner Pacheco was satisfied to win Pool A, “the first objective has been reached. As I’ve been saying, this is our preparation for Thailand; as many challenging matches we play, the team will improve; this is a good test for us and see what we’re capable of”.

“I congratulate Dominican Republic, they have lots of potential and it wasn’t easy to score. Argentina had better disposition today and we must focus on reaching the finals” expressed Guillermo Caceres.