Dominicans claim bronze with historic victory over Brazil

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, July 14, 2012 – Dominican Republic claimed their fourth medal in the history of the Men’s Volleyball Pan American Cup by clinching the bronze with a 3-2 (28-26, 25-23, 21-25, 24-26,15-11) victory over Brazil in 2 hours and 14  minutes on Saturday.

The Dominicans entered the court well determined and with their sharp serves destabilized the young but promising Brazilian team.

Once again, the Dominican captain Jose Miguel Caceres (27) topped the offense with the effective support of Elvis Contreras (17) and Elnis Palomino (14). For Brazil, the top scorers were Mauricio Borges (19), Gustavo Bonatto (16), Alan Ferreira Souza (13) and Otavio Rodríguez (11).

“Both teams went out to win and my men executed as planned. I am very happy because winning against a Brazilian team is always something big as we complete six very intense matches,” Dominican Republic’s coach Osiel Vasquez said.

Caceres could not hide his emotion. “It is always a thrill to win against Brazil. We couldn’t do it when we faced them at Copa America and lost 3-0. We had our ups and downs but it was a match of high quality.”

Raphael Vieira de Oliveira, captain of Brazil congratulated his rivals for the great job “but we are sad because we couldn’t finish among the medalists. It is also good to play along with youngsters that will give Brazil a lot of joy.”

Leonardo Carvalho, coach of Brazil, admitted that “to play against Dominican Republic and United States, the only teams against we lost, you have to make a preparation of more quality. We came here with only one week so we go back home with a bitter taste because we know we could have reached the finals.”