Thailand fought hard against 2017 silver medallists Dominican Republic to go down in four-setter 16-25, 18-25, 26-24, 21-25 in their 9th-12th playoff encounter at the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U18 World Championship in Durango, Mexico on Tuesday.
Following the scintillating win, Dominican Republic have secured their berth in the 9th-10th place playoff against the winners between Slovakia and Argentina, with Thailand vying for the 11th position against the losers in the mentioned match.
Tapia Cruz Alondra Denis scored a game-high 22 points including 17 attacks and 4 blocks for Dominican Republic, while Ampha Sonsurat led Thailand with 17 points.
Alondra Tapia, middle blocker of Dominican Republic: “Thailand always play a very intelligent game and they fight for every point. I’ve been playing in Japan for the last two years and I am more used to the Asian playing style, so I tried to help my teammates and give them as much information as I could. Playing against Thailand has taught me a lot and personally it was very satisfying to win this match. Finishing in the top ten means a lot for us, it’s really an achievement and something that makes us proud. It’s our first World Championship and we’ll fight with all we have for the ninth place.”
Alexandre Ceccato, head coach of Dominican Republic: “We knew Thailand would be a very tough opponent. They fight a lot and had made Brazil’s life very difficult when they played. We did really well from a tactical standpoint in the first two sets, but they came back stronger in the third. The fourth set was really close and I think the fact that we had taller hitters gave us the edge. Alondra lives in Japan and has joined the team just a month ago. She’s getting better and better as she adjusts to her teammates and understands our playing style better. She played a really great match tonight.”
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