Dominicans win thrilling match against Netherlands 

OSAKA, Japan, September 28, 2019 – The Dominican Republic faced off against the Netherlands on Saturday at Maruzen Intec Arena Osaka, having won against Argentina on the previous day. The Dominicans proved victorious in tie-break (25-23, 25-22, 25-27, 18-25, 15-4) fending off a resilient Netherlands squad which fell short in the final period. 

It was the first victory of the Dominican Republic over Netherlands since winning 3-0 their first encounter in the 1974 World Championship. The Europeans had won eleven matches in a row at world level major tournaments: Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup. 

After seeing Netherlands tying the score and forcing a tie-break, the Dominicans charged batteries and won the first 10 points of the tie-breaker and never looked back. 

Brayelin Martinez once again led the Dominican attack with 26 points, including four blocks, and Bethania de la Cruz added 17 with three blocks and one ace. Jineiry Martínez and Lisvel Eve each contributed 10 points.  

Lonneke Sloetjes had a match-high 29 points for Netherlands, while Celeste Plak and Marrit Jasper added 17 and 15, respectively. 

Dominican Republic coach Marcos Kwiek: "I'm more than just happy - I'm happy because of the way we won. This was a very hard, tough game. This is the sort of match that shows us the way forward.