After climbing to 5th place in the world last year at the senior World Championship in Italy, the Dominican Republic have been on a bit of a slump in 2015. They finished a very poor 12th in the World Grand Prix, without winning a single set -although they did manage to claim a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in Toronto.

There's a couple of players from that PanAm squad playing at Ankara but they carry a lot of weight on their shoulders, needing to defend the silver medal they won last time around at the U23 World Championships, in 2013 in Tijuana, where they lost the final in straight sets to China.

The 'Queens of the Caribbean' also boast a silver medal at the U20 World Championship, won in 2009 in Mexicali after losing in straight sets to Germany in the final.