Brazil turn things around and overcome the Dominican Republic

August 31, 2025.- Brazil recovered from a first-set upset to defeat the Dominican Republic on Sunday in the Round of 16 in Bangkok and become the sixth national team guaranteed in the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship.

Dominated by the aggressive Dominicans in the first set, the reigning South American champions responded with a flawless performance in the second set and built from there to win the match and take the spot in the quarterfinals with a 3-1 (18-25, 25-12, 25-20, 25-12) victory over the Caribbean.

Opposite Gaila González delivered 15 points (13 kills, two blocks) in the last match of the Dominicans in Thailand. The Martínez sisters Jineiry and Brayelín contributed nine and eight points, respectively.

“Brazil played very well tonight,” Gaila reflected. “We had a great start, but then they managed to put more pressure on us with their serving and the match changed. They deserved to win. We struggled with our passing in some moments, and that’s an area we need to work on for the next tournaments.”

Brazil’s dominance from the service line (six aces to one) was one of the factors that led them to victory, as the South Americans also outscored the Dominicans in kills (46 to 40) and blocks (14 to eight), besides making fewer errors (20 to 27).

The World Championship Round of 16 will be completed on Monday, with the United States and Canada meeting at 17:00 local time (10:00 GMT) and Türkiye and Slovenia battling at 20:30 (13:30 GMT).