TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS — In an intense match that lasted almost two hours, the defending champions of Puerto Rico defeated the Dominican Republic 3-2 (16-25, 25-21, 26-28, 25-20 and 15-8) this Wednesday during the second day of the U-17 Women’s Pan American Cup, held at the Jorge Galeano Gymnasium in Tegucigalpa. The exciting match, corresponding to Group A of the preliminary round, lasted one hour and 58 minutes and showed two teams committed to every point. Despite the defeat, the Dominican Republic team offered a solid offensive and defensive performance, dominating in attacks 60-51. However, Puerto Rico made a difference from the service line (11-5) and in blocking (9-8), in addition to capitalizing better on rival errors. The Puerto Rican offense was led by Carinialys Román with 16 points, followed by Anna Aquino with 15 and Eliany Quiñónez with 14 points. For the Quisqueyanas, Shanty Pérez shone with 26 points, while Leandry Almonte contributed 24 units and Paola De Jesús added 10. Dominican Republic started the match with authority by dominating the first set 25-16, supported by the strong spikes of Almonte, Pérez and De Jesús, as well as an organized defense that neutralized the defending champions. Puerto Rico reacted in the second set by adjusting its offensive system and strengthening its blocking. After a balanced start, the Puerto Ricans took advantage of several Dominican defensive errors to pull away 18-15 and eventually tie the match with a 25-21 victory.

The third set was one of the most exciting of the match. Puerto Rico took a 17-14 lead thanks to two important offensive rallies, but the Dominicans responded with a violent reaction led by Pérez, Almonte and De Jesús to tie at 20. In a dramatic finish, the criollas managed to win 28-26 to go up 2-1 on the scoreboard.

However, the Puerto Ricans reacted again in the fourth set, driven by the attack of Aquino and Quiñónez and an effective block that complicated the Dominican offensive game. Puerto Rico won 25-20 and forced the decisive fifth set. In the final set, Puerto Rico came out aggressively and took a 3-0 lead, taking advantage of defensive errors by the Caribbean team. The Dominican Republic managed to react and tied the score 7-7 with a powerful spike by Shanty Pérez, but the Puerto Ricans responded with a decisive rally that widened the difference to 11-7 and ultimately tilted the match in their favor. With this result, the Dominican Republic will seek its first victory of the tournament this Thursday when it faces the United States at 5:00 p.m., Dominican time.