A full house of fans at the Palacio de Deportes and hundreds of thousands who followed the games on Channel 4 TV watched the Dominican national volleyball team smash Puerto Rican team’s expectations in the NORCECA Women’s Qualification Tournament Tokyo 2020, a winner takes it all clash.
The Dominican team won the qualifier 3-0 on Sunday, 12 January. The sets ended 25-20, 25-18 and 25-15. The Dominican team again showed why they are the “Queens of the Caribbean,” in a game where the best of the teams’ talent and strength was streamed and broadcast nationwide. The first set was tied 13-13 and then after, the Dominican team would take the lead and never let go.
Bethania de la Cruz, was selected the most valuable player of the four-team competition. She was at the top of her game with four lightning aces among her 16 points to lead the winners. Brayelin Martínez added 15 and Lisvel Eve contributed 10 points in the victory.
At the 25th point of the third game, Dominican team members were all in tears at the end, emotions flowing after months of hard work. Brazilian coach Marcos Zwiek said making the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is the lifetime aspiration for any athlete. He expressed his pride in coaching the Dominican team.
This will be the third time the Dominican Republic plays in an Olympic Games. Zwiek says that the Dominican team is more mature and better prepared now than when it played in London 2012 and Athens 2004. Zwiek was the coach of the team in 2012.
To reach the finals, the Dominican Republic had defeated Canada on Saturday 3-1 (25-13, 21-25, 25-19, 25-15) and Mexico on Friday, 3-2 (25-19, 25-17, 21-25, 23-25, 15-5) in the games leading to the final on Sunday.
Women’s Volleyball North American Olympic Qualification Tournament was sponsored by the Presidency of the Republic that remodeled the Palacio de los Deportes for the event and covered much of the costs for the qualifier. On a side note, Administrative Minister of the Presidency José Ramón Peralta was present for the final game and celebrated with the winning team. On Friday, during the inauguration, he had to endure the boos of the crowd when the president of the North, Central American and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA), Dominican Cristóbal Marte had expressed appreciation to President Danilo Medina, Administrative Minister Jose Ramon Peralta and Sports Minister Danilo Diaz for the backing of the tournament. Cristóbal Marte is the mastermind behind the development of women’s volleyball in the Dominican Republic.
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Listin Diario
13 January 2020