Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, July 23, 2010 – Defending champions the Dominican Republic and hosts Puerto Rico, two teams who have qualified to this year’s FIVB World Grand Prix, will clash in the gold medal match of the women’s volleyball tournament at the XXI Central American and Caribbean Games on Friday.

Both teams won their semifinal matches in straight-sets with the Dominican Republic outlasting Trinidad & Tobago and Puerto Rico defeating Costa Rica. The defeated sides will play for the bronze medal.

While the Dominicans have won the gold medal four times (1946, 1962, 2002 and 2006) the Puerto Ricans have three silver medal finishes (1938, 1946 and 1962).
Mexico and Guatemala will face for the fifth position and Barbados will meet Nicaragua for the seventh place.

Dominican Republic v Trinidad & Tobago

Two-time defending champions the Dominican Republic advanced to the gold medal match following a 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-22) victory over Trinidad & Tobago. Prisilla Rivera and Gina Mambru each tallied 11 points while Milagros Cabral and Annerys Vargas charted nine and eight respectively. The Trinidadians, who had a 12-4 advantage in the blocking department, had Krystle Esdelle and Kelly-Anne Billingy as their best scorers with 15 and 12 points respectively.

Puerto Rico v Costa Rica

Puerto Rico advanced to a clash with the Dominican Republic for the gold medal after a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-16) win over Costa Rica. The only time these two teams faced each other in the Games’ final match was the 1962 edition in Jamaica which ended in victory for the Dominican side. The home team, who had a 12-4 advantage in blocks, was led by Aury Cruz with 15 points and Sarai Alvarez and Karina Ocasio with 13 apiece. Karen Cope and Verania Willis each scored seven for Costa Rica.

Guatemala v Barbados

Guatemala edged Barbados 3-2 (26-24, 21-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-10) in an eliminatory match for the 5-8 positions. Veteran Aneliesse Burmeister led four Guatemalans to double figures with 21 points and Blanca Recinos added 16. Rut Gomez compiled five blocks among her 11 tallies and Diana Arias contributed 10 points. Barbados’ Shari Matthews had a match-high 23 points while Sharon Bovell and Anicia Wood added 16 and 11 respectively.

Mexico v Nicaragua

Mexico beat Nicaragua in straight sets (25-12, 25-3, 25-14) in an elimination match for the 5-8 positions.  The winners, who had an overwhelming advantage of 9-0 in blocks and 12-1 in serving aces, will play Guatemala for fifth place on Friday. Samantha Bricio, the leading scorer and server of the tournament, led Mexico with 15 points including five aces while Claudia Rodriguez and Zaira Orellana each contributed 12 points including five and two blocks respectively.