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HAVANA, Cuba, March 21, 2015 – Dominican Republic overcame
Puerto Rico in a sensational come-from-behind five-set victory
(21-25, 26-28, 25-15, 25-18, 15-9) to reach the gold medal match
of the III Girls’ U18 Pan Am Volleyball Cup following the most
exciting match of the competition.
It appeared like the Puerto Ricans were on their way to score
the biggest surprise given the condition of favourites of their
Caribbean neighbours when the Dominicans reacted and established
their game. For the NORCECA reigning champions in this age-group
category, the opposite player Massiel Matos (19), the outside
hitter Natalia Martínez (18) and the middle blocker Lisbeth
Rosario (11) all excelled.
Dariana Hollingsworth, opposite player of the resilient Puerto
Rico, was the top scorer (21) in this emotional clash that
lasted little over two hours with team-mate Paola Salas showing
her power spike to contribute 19 points.
Brazilian, Alexandre Ceccato, coach of the Dominicans, expressed
that ”it was a difficult match. I do not know why we played the
two first sets scared. It did mean the rivals were playing well,
but our girls had low self-esteem. It is what I try to
understand. As the traditional rivalry, we should not give up
particularly the second set where we were leading 21-16.
Afterwards, my players improved while the opponents relaxed and
we discovered their game”.
The winning captain, Yokaty Pérez, commented that “I had to
speak loudly. It is one of my tasks to alert and motivate. Today
we entered under pressure. Our libero was not on her best day
and it is a relevant position. Things were not working out, but
there were changes and happily we will fight for the gold medal
tomorrow against any rival whatever it is.”
Luis Aponte, coach of Puerto Rico, rated the march as an
excellent one, but they failed and to let the Dominicans to
grow.
“We got them biting the dust prior to the third set. However we
were not able to deal with our mistakes. They worked much on our
psychological part and it was difficult for us to recover as
happened in the fifth set where with a 6-4 lead which is good
particularly for a short set, they made us a four-point rally
and the girls showed fatigue. Obviously, we give credit to the
opponents who had a very good block and defence and are more
powerful than mine.”
Joscelyn Coronel, the quite tall captain, stated that having won
the two first sets caused confidence within the team. “In my
opinion, it made our game level decrease in the third set. Then
they reacted. Actually we met the Dominican level, but did not
know how to get out of the hole. However tomorrow we will
overcome this error and will fight for the bronze.” |
