Dominican Republic edged Germany and Canada beat Camerroon, while Puerto Rico lost against China in FIVB WCH Opener

ROME, BARI and TRIESTE Italy, September 23, 2014 –Dominican Republic edged Germany in a five setter battle (22-25, 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 15-13) in Pool A.

Bethania De La Cruz scored 23 points while Elizabeth Martinez came from the bench to tally 14. Germany had five players in double-figure scoring including Margareta Kozuch with team-high 16 points followed by Maren Brinker with 14 points in a match that lasted 2 hours and 39 minutes.

Dominican Republic tallied 17 points to offset Germany's 5-1 ace advantage. The Caribbean team used a 4-0 run to overcome a 9-6 deficit in the fifth set. Germany stayed in the match by winning the fourth after trailing 19-15.

This could be some kind of a symbolic revenge, considering that the liberos, Lenka Dürr of Germany and Brenda Castillo of Dominican Republic, played at the FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship of 2009 in Mexicali, Mexico, five years ago.

The Dominicans will look for their second victory at the Palalottomatica Gym, when they face Tunisia on Wednesday.

Canada 3-1 Cameroon

In trieste, Canada overcame Cameroon 3-1 (25-12, 25-15, 20-25, 25-14) in Pool B. The Norceca and African Confederation representatives had never played before at a World Championship in the senior level.

The team coached by Arnd Ludwig finished a losing streak of nine matches in a row, after they lost all five of their pool matches in the 2010 World Championship edition played in Japan.

Kyla Richey scored 17 points for Canada, while Rebecca Pavan and Lucille Charuk tallied 16 and 14 respectively. Tabitha Love and Marcelle Shanice also reached double digits. Christelle Nana was the best scorer for Cameroon with 14 shots.

China 3-0 Puerto Rico

In Bari, Puerto Rico lost against China in straight sets (23-25, 18-25, 20-25) in opening match of Pool D at the Palaflorio Gym. Despite an advantage of the Puerto Rican team in the first set, China put pressure with their middleblockers and also showed a good control of their receiving game. Karina Ocasio was the top scorer with 19 points, while Aury Cruz and Lynda Morales closed with 9 and 8, respectively.

On the other side, Ting Zhu scored 15 for China, whose serving game was also key to achieve the victory, while Puerto Rico registered 11 errors in service.

Caribbean Classic ahead

Puerto Rico will match Cuba on Wednesday. This will be the second Norceca battle at the FIVB Women’s World Championship after Mexico and the United States of America opened their action after playing each other on Tuesday in Verona in Pool C.

The Puerto Ricans expect to correct the mistakes made in their first match. According to captain Yarimar Rosa and head coach Jose Mieles. “The big difference were our mistakes, we made too many, and our enthusiasm decreased after the first set,” stated Rosa about her team performance against China.

“Errors were our big enemy. We made 22 against only 9 by them. Our reception and service failed, we have to work hard to improve,” Mieles remarked. Cuba and Puerto Rico are expected to play at 2:00 PM Caribbean Time Zone.