SANTIAGO, Dominican Republic, August 24, 2005.- Dominican Republic won in straight sets (25-14, 25-16, 25-20) over Costa Rica in Day One of the FIVB Women’s World Championships Qualification Tournament Norceca-D.

Cosiris Rodriguez, Annerys Vargas and Kenia Moreta had 13, 12 and 11 points respectively for the Dominican Republic, while siblings Verania and Angela Willis each scored 11 for Costa Rica.

The Dominicans dominated 8-3 and 16-8 in route to winning the first set with Moreta and Vargas providing the attack. Veteran Rodriguez and Vargas led the way for the host team in the second set where Costa Rica presented some resistance with good blocks. The Costa Ricans led most of the third set with the offence of Verania Willis but they could not maintain the rhythm after a tie at 18-all, when Rodriguez led a Dominican comeback.

Braulio Godinez, coach of Costa Rica: "We had a good game and tried to give a battle to the Dominicans who had much more experience than us. But we cannot lost the perspective and need to maintain the focus on winning the third place."

Verania Willis, captain of Costa Rica: "We knew in advance the kind of rival we were facing. We gave our best effort and tried to minimize the amount of errors. Our objectives are the matches against Guatemala and Jamaica."

Ismael Ortega, coach of Dominican Republic: "I think we gave a good show to the fans of Santiago. Congratulations to the Costa Rican team for a great performance. We give all the credit to Cosiris Rodriguez for taking care of matters in the third set as captain of captains that she is."

Cosiris Rodriguez, captain of Dominican Republic: "It was a good match and Costa Rica has improved a lot since the Pan American Cup. For us, the important was to take the victory in three sets and prepare for the coming matches."