Mexico’s 3-1 (26-24, 25-21, 24-26, 25-17) win over the Dominican Republic advanced them to the gold medal match at the NORCECA U-21 Women’s Pan American Cup in Nogales, Sonora, that will be played today in the final of the Cup.
Mexico (4-0) will play the title of the Pan American Cup against the United States (4-0), the current champions. Dominican Republic (3-2) will face Cuba (3-2) for third place.
Mexico lost the third set despite coming back formidably from a nine-point deficit (11-20) and then won the fourth and final set after dropping five match points.
Mexico won the disputed battle against the Dominican Republic leading in spikes 55-48, in blocks 19-10 and a slim margin of 7-6 in aces. Dominican Republic made fewer errors (19-24).
Captain Aimé Topete led Mexico with 19 points on 15 kills and three blocks. Opposite Katherine Ramírez and center back Arleth Marquez each contributed 18 points; with Marquez scoring a game-high seven points on blocks.
Corner spiker Katielle Alonzo led the Dominican Republic with 18 points on 17 kills and one ace, followed by opposite Ariana Rodriguez with 14 points on 13 kills and one block. Center back Estrella Puente scored 12 points on 7 kills and five blocks.
Luis León, coach of Mexico: “In the third set the team started working when we were down seven points, even so it was very difficult. It was a game full of emotions, the team that knew how to control their emotions was the one that was left with the victory. Tomorrow we face a very strong team, but we feel strong enough to fight; The United States physically surpasses us, that generation was third in the world, but those teams motivate us to face them ”.
Cristian Cruz, coach of the Dominican Republic: “The key to the defeat was in small details that we failed in the first set, a bad distribution when the score was 22-21 changed the game for us. What we trained for was not fulfilled, unlike yesterday, today it was not fulfilled”.
