The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games quarter-finalists were appearing in their sixth consecutive NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship final, and claimed victory for the third time.

As with their previous two successes, the gold medal match against Puerto Rico went the distance, but they held their never to triumph 25-22, 15-25, 25-17, 21-25. 15-12 at at the Estadio de Voleibol Yoli Ramírez.

Four Dominican Republic players scored double figures in the final, led by opposite hitter Galia González on 19 points, who during the post-tournament awards ceremony was named the Championship’s most valuable player.

The team’s captain Prisilla Rivera was emotional after recording victory.

"These are tears of joy, we had a great responsibility to revalidate our title and I thank God we did," she said.

"Congratulations to Puerto Rico for their high-level of play."

Marcos Kwiek, the Dominican Republic coach, added that the team’s performance was far from perfect, but that they did enough to earn a gold medal.

"We didn’t play at our game-level; we performed with emotion instead of reason," Kwiek said.

"It was a great final match, Puerto Rico did an excellent game and we were able to control it in key moments."

Puerto Rico were appearing in only their second final, having also lost over five sets to Dominican Republic in 2009.

Their coach Fernando Morales said the team’s preparations were hampered by a lack of training time before the tournament, but was pleased with how they performed throughout the tournament.

"Imagine what we could accomplish if we had more time of practice and for me coaching for the first time," Morales said.

"I told my players to keep their heads high, they had a great tournament and Dominican Republic is a great team."

Both teams secured their places at the International Volleyball Federation Women’s World Championship by reaching the final.

The bronze medal match also went to five sets, and saw Canada record a 25-17, 17-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-8 win against the United States.

The US were defending champions, and represented by their B team at the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship.

Positional awards were handed out to players after the conclusion of the tournament.

Rivera and Bethania De La Cruz were named the first and second outside hitters, with González the best opposite hitter.

Silver medallists Puerto Rico saw two of their players receive honours, with Natalia Valentín the best setter and Shara Venegas the best libero and receiver.

American Rachael Kramer and Canadian Jennifer Cross were named first and second middle blockers, with Costa Rica’s María José Castro the best digger and Mexico’s Jocelyn Urías the best server.