USA win women’s champions cup

COLORADO SPRINGS, USA, August 24, 2019 – The U.S. Women held off a challenge from the Dominican Republic and won the NORCECA Champions Cup with a 25-19, 25-17, 25-27, 25-22 victory on Saturday at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center.

The U.S. finishes at 3-0. Dominican Republic finishes second at 2-1.

The United States’ Simone Lee led all scorers with 20 points on a match-high 14 attacks, a match-high five blocks and one ace.

The United States led in attacks (52-47), blocks (15-7) and aces (7-2).

Yonkaira Pena Isabel led Dominican Republic with 16 points on 11 attacks, three blocks and two aces.

U.S. setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson: “They fought hard. In the end, we just fought harder. I’m really proud of the way that we battled. It wasn’t easy by any means. We just tried to stay composed and be USA good, and I think we did that.”

U.S. coach Tayyiba Haneef-Park: “This whole tournament, Dominican Republic has been known for playing on their emotions, and just when you think that you’ve counted them out, they spring back. They have a diverse roster and they’re able to put in a lot of key people to change the game, and they did that against us. We kind of lost our rhythm (in the third/fourth sets), serve and pass, but as soon as we found it again, we were able to inch our way back.”

Dominican coach Marcos Kwiek: “(In the third set) We did start playing more aggressively. We played at a higher level, and that was the difference. (In the fourth set) We were neck and neck until the very end. There were just a couple tiny mistakes, and this game is unforgiving.”