Dominicans defeat China in a world-level competition and Canada fall in thriller to Italy

Dominicans defeat China in a world-level competition and Canada fall in thriller to Italy

June 30, 2023.- Dominican Republic defeated China in a world-level competition in Korea and Canada fell in a thriller to VNL defending champions Italy in Thailand in week three at the Volleyball Nations League.

Dominicans beat China for the first time since 2010 and an overall second time in history out of 27 official matches played between the two teams in total.

In a Pool 5 game in Suwon on Friday, Las Reinas del Caribe celebrated a 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-20, 15-13) victory over the mighty opponents. Improving to a 5-6 win-loss record and 12 points, they stand 12th in the current standings, but without a shot at making the Finals.

A day after opposite Gaila Gonzalez and middle blocker Jineiry Martinez led Dominican Republic to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16) shutout of hosts Korea, their performance against China was even more inspirational. Gonzalez spiked at a 57% success rate, raised three kill blocks and served three aces towards a fantastic 35-point match high. Jineiry produced a number of key points towards her team’s success, including the match winner. She hammered four aces and registered an out-of-this-world 81% success rate in attack to tally a total of 22 points. Outside hitter Brayelin Martinez added another 19.

Dominican Republic will open Saturday’s competition with a game against reigning world champions Serbia at 10:30 local time (01:30 UTC).

Italy pulled out a 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 25-14, 24-26, 15-10) victory over Canada at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium.

The victory made the Italians, who started the day in ninth place, leapfrog the Canadians and enter the qualification zone to the Finals. The defeat was a brutal one for the Canadians, who dropped not one, but three spots to 11th place with five wins (17 points) and have only one more match in the Preliminary Phase.

Canada had three players reaching double digits in scoring in, team captain and outside hitter Alexa Gray, with 18 points, opposite Kiera Van Ryk, with 15, and middle blocker Emily Maglio, with 13.

Italy’s superiority in kills (64 to 53) and blocks (17 to ten) built the way for their victory as the edge on those skills helped the Europeans prevail despite the Canadian higher production in aces (seven to six) and opponent errors (28 to 24).

Canada will get on the court on Saturday against the Netherlands, at 17:00 local time (10:00 UTC).