The national volleyball teams of United States, Dominican Republic and Cuba lined up on the podium at the third edition of the women’s NORCECA Final Six Pan American Cup, held in Santo Domingo last week.
Tournament hosts and silver medallists Dominican Republic are among the beneficiaries of the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment programme. Las Reinas del Caribe have so far been allocated a total of CHF 510,000 of coach support, in addition to the CHF 50,400 the Dominican federation has received for their men’s team.
United States went through the competition undefeated to claim their first title, after collecting a silver and a bronze from the first two editions. The Americans lost only two sets during the first stage of the event, a six-team round-robin tournament, both in their clash with the Dominicans, who finished second in the table on a 4-1 win-loss record. Cuba and Mexico also qualified for the semifinals, on 2-3 each, surpassing Canada on points.
NORCECA Final Six champions United States (Photo credits: norceca.net)To reach Saturday’s final, USA mastered a 3-0 (25-11, 25-10, 25-15) straight-setter over Mexico, while the hosts produced a 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-19) semifinal victory over Cuba.
In front of six thousand fans at the Ricardo Gioriber Arias Volleyball Palace in the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center, the Americans and the Dominicans went head to head again in a direct clash for the trophy (pictured in the main photo). USA proved stronger to celebrate a 3-1 (24-26, 25-18, 25-20, 25-21) victory and leave the champions of the previous two editions with silver.
“It was a hard-fought game that leaves us happy,” commented Dominican Republic’s coach Marcos Kwiek. “We faced a team that was very consistent and very solid in all aspects. We tried to make some changes, some adjustments and it didn't work out for us, but it's part of what we have done, rotate players so that they were in rhythm. That is what we need, put young people to play with that pressure so that they learn.”
NORCECA Final Six silver medallists Dominican Republic“It was a very exciting game with a very exciting atmosphere,” said USA’s coach Brad Rostratter. “We are very happy to have competed here, to have competed with a team as strong as the Dominican Republic, and to have achieved victory. I think that if I would not have used different line-ups in previous games to keep everyone in pace and without our depth on the bench this would not have been possible.”
Cuba claimed their first medal in the history of the competition with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-18) turnaround against Mexico in the match for the bronze. Canada managed a straight-set victory over Puerto Rico for the fifth place in the final standings.
USA’s outside hitter Simone Lee earned two individual awards, for Most Valuable Player (MVP) and for Best Spiker, while Cuba’s Ivy Vila was named Second Best Spiker. The awards for Best and Second Best Middle Blockers went to Cuba’s Laura Suarez and Dominican Republic’s Geraldine Gonzalez, respectively. Dominican Republic’s Gaila Gonzalez was honoured as the Best Opposite, Mexico’s Maria Vela was named the Best Setter and Cuba’s Ellemay Miranda was recognized as the Best Libero and the Best Receiver of the tournament. Joseline Landeros and Karen Rivera of Mexico, and Jasmin Rivest of Canada took the awards for Best Digger, Best Scorer and Best Server, respectively.
Source : fivb.com
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