Miami, Florida, June 30, 2009 - Defending champions Dominican Republic and hosts United States won their respective pools in the Eighth Women’s Pan American Cup advancing directly to the semi final phase of the competition and securing a berth in next year’s FIVB World Grand Prix.

Bethania de la Cruz tallied eight of her match-high 26 points in the tie-breaker leading the Dominican Republic to a thrilling victory over Olympic champions Brazil by score of 25-23, 19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-13 Tuesday night at U.S. Century Bank Arena in Florida International University.

Meanwhile, United States edged Puerto Rico 25-15, 25-20, 24-26, 25-23 in an emotional battle of unbeaten teams on Tuesday evening at the University of Miami's BankUnited Center.

The Brazilians will meet Peru in the quarterfinals of Thursday and Puerto Rico plays against Argentina.

Prisilla Rivera and Milagros Cabral contributed 15 and 12 points respectively to the Dominican victory and Annerys Vargas and Lisvel Eve chipped in nine and eight tallies. Brazilians Thaisa Menezes and Sheila Castro each produced 17 points and Welissa Gonzaga and Mari Steinbrecher recorded 12 and 11 respectively.

Kristin Richards and Jordan Larson contributed matching 18 points for USA in the victory, while Nancy Metcalf added 17 points. Danielle Scott-Arruda chipped in 10 points for the winners. Puerto Rico was led by Aurea Cruz's match-high 21 points, while Sarai Alvarez added 15 points. Yarimar Rosa charted 10 points off the bench.

“You have to feel excited after defeating an Olympic champions like Brazil,” said Marcos Kwiek. “It was a team victory with everyone contributing. Bethania was great but the rest of the team really supported her performance. It is good to win but the biggest win is when you win the title.”

"Puerto Rico is a very good team and is well coached," USA Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon said. "On our side of the net, we played within our system and that may have been the difference as we were able to win a few more points."

In the other matches of Tuesday, Peru topped Guatemala 25-9, 25-13, 25-15 to finish Pool A in third place with a 3-2 record advancing to the quarterfinal round on July 2. Guatemala completes Pool A with a 0-5 record and next will compete for eleventh place on July 4.

Carla Ortiz led Peru with 15 points, whule its captain Leyla Chihuan added 12 points. Yulissa Zamudio charted 11 points in the victory. Maria A. Estrada Santizo paced Guatemala with nine points.

Canada claimed its first victory in Pool B by defeating Trinidad & Tobago 25-21, 25-10, 25-23 and Costa Rica downed Mexico in a tight three-set match 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 to finish in fourth place of Pool A.

Costa Rica ends Pool A with a 2-3 win-loss record and meets Trinidad & Tobago on July 1. Meanwhile Mexico falls to 1-4 and fifth place on Pool A and next plays against Canada on Thursday.

Sofie-Hanna Schlagintweit led Canada with 16 points including five aces and three blocks, and Tonya Mokelki recorded 11 points, all in attacks. Cole Meek contributed eight points with four blocks and Jennifer Hinze had two aces among her eight tallies. Krystle Esdelle paced the Trinidadians offense with 15 points and Kelly-Anne Billingy added 10 points.

Costa Rican captain Verania Willis hammered 14 kills with three blocks and two aces en route to a 19 points night. Karen Cope Charles contributed 11 points, eleven via attacks, and Paola Ramirez added nine. Captain Migdalel Ruiz led Mexico with 15 points, including 14 attacks, and Martha Revuelta added nine points.