The Canadian team (ranked 17th) got off to a good start in the first set of the XV Women’s Pan American Cup giving the Dominican Republic’s women’s team (ranked 7th) a big scare by leading by five points in most of the first set of the match on Tuesday, 5 July 2016. The home team nevertheless was able to bounce back from deficits of 19-12 and 24-21 to take the first set and from then on lead the match. The Dominican Republic won the match 26-24, 25-21, and 25-13.
Canada played an excellent first set with strong serves and we were a little below our usual level,” said Marcos Kwiek, the coach of Dominican Republic. “We made some substitutions that functioned well and at the end we got the victory in three sets.”
Dominican Bethania de la Cruz was the top scorer of the match with 12 points, followed by teammates Annerys Vargas with 8 points, Gina Mambru and Brayelin Martinez with 7 points apiece. The best for Canada were Shainah Joseph and Michaela Reesor with 11 and 10, respectively.
“We started playing very well and leading 24-21 maybe my players started to think too much about winning the set and put pressure on themselves,” Canada’s coach Arnd Ludwig said. “We made some mistakes and the Dominicans improved and served well, made some blocks and (Brenda) Castillo made some good digs.”
The Dominican Republic will now play Puerto Rico (ranked 16th) for the top place in Pool A and a direct ticket to the semifinal phase. The game is at 8pm and will be televised on Telecentro TV. Puerto Rico is undefeated in the tournament and this year has defeated the Dominican Republic when they have met more times.
The championship teams are divided in two groups. The Group A teams are Canada, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. Group B teams are Argentina, Cuba, the United States, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and Peru.
The game will be played at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center Volleyball Pavilion.
Tickets are on sale online at Uepa Tickets and at Jumbo and El Nacional supermarkets. The admission price at the Olympic Pavilion is RD$330. Admission for all the games at Club San Carlos will be RD$130.
https://www.norceca.net/2016%20Events/Women%20PanAm%20Cup%20DOM%202016/Calendar%20P2-P3/Calendar%202016%20Women’s%20Pan%20American%20Cup.htm
