In 1994, Dominican Republic's Women's Junior National
Volleyball Team finished second at the NORCECA Women's Junior Continental
Championship after an exciting final match against Cuba in the city of Durango,
Mexico.
The silver medal at this important event enabled our
Women's Junior National Volleyball Team to compete against Mexico for the final
continental spot at the 1995 FIVB Women's Junior World Championship held in
Bangkok, Thailand. The Dominicans defeated the experienced Mexican team to
participate for the first time in our history at a Junior World Championship.
The development of the Dominican Republic National
Program continued in 1996 when our team again finished second at the NORCECA
Continental Championship, after an electrifying five-set final match against
long-time rivals Cuba. In order to participate in the 1997 FIVB Women's Junior
World Championship in Poland, the Dominican girls had to face an experienced
Puerto Rican team to obtain the last vacancy available to NORCECA. The team
beat Puerto Rico in and wound up finishing ninth at the World Championship.
In 2001 the Junior Team welcomed a total of 15 teams from
around the world for the 2001 FIVB Women's Junior World Championship held in
the city of Santo Domingo. The event presented an extraordinary opportunity for
our athletes to create awareness about the sport and garner support from the
tens of thousands of fans who attended the matches. The team battled until the
end against the world's top teams and finished eighth.
By 2004 our national program had created a solid base of
elite players that had worked their way up from the 2001 Girls Youth World
Championship in Croatia. Competing at NORCECA Women's Junior Continental
Championship, the team overcame Cuba, Mexico, Canada and Puerto Rico for the
first time ever to convincingly win silver after a hard-fought final against
the United States. This extraordinary performance earned the team a spot at the
2005 FIVB Women's World Championship (U-20).
In 2006, the Dominican Republic participated in NORCECA
Women's Junior Continental Championship held in the city of Monterrey, Mexico,
once again finishing second to champions the USA to qualify for the 2007 FIVB
Women's Junior World Championship held in Nakhonratchasima, Thailand.
In 2008, the Juniors finished second yet again at the
NORCECA Women's Junior Continental Championship, after an exciting final match
against USA in Saltillo, Mexico. The silver medal earned Dominican Republic a
ticket to the 2009 Women Junior World Championship.
Designated coach Wagner Pacheco of Brazil is looking
forward to more successes for the team has high hopes for his players at the
tournament in Tijuana & Mexicali, Mexico.
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