United States land the bronze medal

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, October 20, 2011 – United States defeated the Dominican Republic 3-1 (23-25, 25-26, 25-20, 25-19) to claim the bronze medal of the women’s volleyball tournament at the Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011.

The effective blocking of the American team was the main weapon en route to the third position on the podium as they scored 22 points with the defense at the net, including seven by Jessica Jones.

Cynthia Barboza led the winning side with 23 points while Lauren Gibbemeyer added 16 with five blocks. Angela Forsett and Jones had 15 and 12 respectively. Dominican Bethania De la Cruz had a match-high 26 points while Prisilla Rovera and Lisvel Eve added 15 and 11.

Andy Banachowski (Coach of USA): “Our team is ecstatic for winning a medal. One of our goals was to win a medal, congratulate to Dominican Republic. They played an extraordinary tournament. They are very strong team and they showed that tonight, and we managed to come back and to win it.”

Cynthia Barboza (Captain of USA): “I am really happy for the results of today’s match. Anytime we can win a medal is a great thing and is also great to play against a great team. One of the reasons we played good today was because we faced such a strong team that really pushed us to the limits.”

Marcos Kwiek (Coach of Dominican Republic): “We are not happy, but we hope to analyze the competition very quietly. We came here aspiring for a medal and every time we come to an event like this we always look for that goal. It was going to be tough, we played the most sets. Some of our athletes are recovering, like Bethania (De la Cruz) who came back after having a baby, watching things positively I am proud of some of these young girls.”

Milagros Cabral (Captain of Dominican Republic): “We went out playing with a very low game and USA knew how to play against us with the serve and block. Their defense was always high.”