SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica. The Dominican Republic women’s U-19 national team will play a decisive match this Wednesday against Mexico in the quarterfinals of the NORCECA U-19 Continental Championship, after falling in three sets (25-18, 25-18, and 25-14) to the United States in the closing of the group stage.
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The match against the Mexicans is scheduled for 9:30 at night (Dominican time) and will grant the winner a ticket to the tournament semifinals and qualification for the 2027 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship.
With a perfect 2-0 record, the United States finished as the leader of Group A, advanced directly to the semifinals, and secured one of the four available spots for the World Cup.
The Dominican Republic concluded the group stage with a 1-1 record, taking second place in the group and keeping their aspirations of qualifying for the World Cup alive.
In the match, the Americans made the difference in attack (33-21), blocking (7-4), and service aces (7-2), in addition to taking advantage of their opponent’s errors to dominate the match from start to finish.
The United States offensive was led by Willtrace Ngoh, with eight points, followed by Shayala Rautenberg, with seven, while three other players contributed six units each.
For the Dominican team, Shanty Pérez and Rayni Mondesí were the top scorers with eight points each.
After the match, the American captain, Ireland Real, highlighted the importance of the victory.
“It was great to secure this victory because it allows us to finish in first place in the group. Our blocking was key and we managed to maintain our style of play,” he expressed.
For her part, the Dominican captain, Rayni Mondesí, acknowledged the opponent’s level and assured that the team is focused on the next match.
“We gave it our best. The United States is a very tall team and that made things difficult for us. We also lacked more communication and confidence in every action,” she noted.
The Dominican Republic will now seek a victory against Mexico that will allow them to advance to the semifinals and secure one of the two remaining tickets to the 2027 FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup.
