The Dominican Republic rebounded from yesterday’s close defeat to Belgium to beat Korea in fine style at the Volleyball Nation’s League, in Italy, on Tuesday.

Overall, the Dom Rep gave a commanding performance to win in straight sets 25-23, 28-26, 25-18.  Although they got off to a shaky start, the team’s aggressive approach to the match was clear.

The Caribbean team dropped points early in the first set but worked their way back with strong backcourt defence and impressive attacking to eventually come out on top. 

After claiming the first, Dom Rep took a commanding lead in the second set but lost concentration at one point and Korea was able to capitalise and tie the set at 23-all.  Thanks to good blocking at the net and a couple of mistakes from the Koreans, however, they were able to close out the set and take a 2-0 lead.

Dom Rep was closely trailed by their opponents in the final set, but with the score at 16-15 in their favour, they started to pull away and surged to victory for the second time this tournament.

Outside hitter Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez and right-side hitter Isabel Pena were the top scorers for the Dominican Republic with 16 points each. Martinez had 14 kills, a block, and an ace, and Pena finished with 15 kills and a block.

This victory means that the Dominican Republic now sit ninth on the table with seven points from five matches.  The team will be hoping to carry the winning momentum into their next game tomorrow against Poland.     

The Dominican Republic women’s team suffered their third defeat earlier today in the preliminary round of the Volleyball Nation’s League in Italy.

St Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, The Dominican Republic and Guatemala opened their World Cup qualifying campaigns with victories on Wednesday night.