Dominican Republic defeats Japan by 3-1 in FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship
The first match of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship took place in Lima, Peru and saw the Dominican Republic go head to head with Japan on July 22. The two teams are part of Pool D and took four long and grueling sets to declare the Dominican
Republic winners after by final set scores of 25-14, 25-20, 20-25 and 25-22.
The Dominican Republic took an hour and 35 minutes to overpower the Japanese squad. In the first set, Dominican Republic dominated all through, while the Japanese seemed like they were just getting their footing. After losing the opening set of the game,
the Japanese were able to give the Dominican Republic some competition but it still was not enough to put together a win. However, the Japanese won the third set of the game, giving the team a shot at winning the match but the Dominican Republic was too strong
and bagged the fourth.
The coach of the Dominican Republic, Wagner Pacheco, made the following statements at a post press conference: “I want to congratulate Japan because it is not easy to travel from so long and so much time, play the first game with this weather. We played
good in some key moments with our blocking and serve. That is why we reached this important victory.”
On the other hand, the Japanese coach, Yasuhiro Fukuda, had the following words to share about the experience: “I congratulate Dominican team because the players were in a great level since the beginning. My players could not give the best because of the
tired and the nerves. We could stay close in the third set and make less mistakes, but we could not hang in there (in fourth set.”
The start of the first set of the game saw the Dominican Republic take the lead early on at 8-3. Japan did not lose hope and closed in the gap at 9-7. However, Dominican Republic did not let the Japanese overtake them and bagged the opening set of the game
at 25-14.
The Japanese gave the Dominican Republic a hard time in the initial stages of the second set and kept close at 8-6. Before the teams went off the court for the first time out, the score board showed 13-12 in favour of the Dominican Republic. Coming back,
the Dominican Republic was able to put on a spurt of speed and close the set at 25-20.
Dominican Republic still had the lead in the third set at 8-6 but the Japanese were able to get a tie at 13-13 and take the lead at 16-14. This enabled the Japanese to eventually win the third set at 25-20. The fourth set was close all through with the Japanese
in the lead at 8-6 and at 16-14. However, Dominican Republic was able to tally a win at 25-22.
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