USA AND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REGISTER VICTORIES AT U20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Dominican Republic Marianne Fersola poses  with
the World Championship's Mascot.

LIMA, Peru, July 22, 2011 – Dominican Republic and USA started off with victories at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship on Friday. Cuba lost to Serbia.

In Pool D, Dominican Republic won the first match in Lima as the runners-up of the most recent edition defeated Japan 25-14, 25-20, 20-25, 25-22 in 1 hour and 35 minutes. Dominican Republic’s Marianne Fersola was the match top scorer with 19 points while Elizabeth Martinez added 18 points.

Saori Kaneko led Japan’s scoring with 15 points as four different players reached double-figure scoring. Dominican Republic collected a 14-5 margin in blocks to offset Japan’s slim 5-4 edge in service aces.

In a rematch of the finals of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, the United States faced Belgium. This time, the United States came out on top winning in straight sets (25-21, 25-18, 25-16).

United States’ Haley Eckerman scored eight of her team-high 15 points in the third set.

Belgium’s Lise Van Hecke totaled a match-high 18 points as the only consistent scoring threat for her team. The Americans held a 13-5 block advantage and converted 43 percent of their spikes for points.

Serbia closed with a 3-1 victory over Cuba (25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 25-10) and took the 3 point that was played.

Serbia's Ivana Lukovic was the top scorer for her team with 18 points, joined by Jovana Stevanovic, Ana Bjelica and Maja Savic who all scored 12 points.

The Cuban attacker Sulian Matienzo topped all the scorers with 21 points, while the captain Yunieska Robles scored 16 points.