Ankara, Turkey, August 14, 2015 – The Dominican Republic added another victory to their records by defeating titleholders China 25-19, 25-19, 25-18 to remain unbeaten at 2015 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U23 World Championship in Ankara, Turkey. Their strong offense was the key for the Caribbean in Friday’s top duel in Pool B.
Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez led her side with 17 points, including 13 spikes, three blocks and one ace. Jineiry Martinez and Yonkaira Paola Peña Isabel helped the Dominicans with 12 kills each. Yao Li contributed eleven points for China. Dominican Republic had the edge in attacking (40-33), blocking (8-5) and serving (5-2).
Titleholder China jumped out to an impressive 8-2 lead at the first technical timeout. The Caribbean side – however – quickly answered with several great serves and spikes to turn the tables in the middle of the first set. China did their best to resist but couldn’t cope with the power the Dominicans displayed. Another hammer ended the first set 25-19 in Dominican Republic’s favour. With 15 winners for the Caribbean and only seven for China, the offense figures spoke for themselves in the opening set.
China improved their offense early in the second set as they entered the first technical break with a one-point lead. Nevertheless, it was still not good enough to regain control of the match. Led by captain Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez, the Caribbean side continued their run like there were no limits. Celenia Toribio blocked the Dominicans to a well-deserved 25-19 second set win. Nine to three errors were one of the key factors why China couldn’t bounce back.
The story of the match didn’t change in the third and last set. The Dominican Republic kept the upper hand, cruising to an impressive 25-18 set and 3-0 match win. Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez ended the clash with a missile from the right side.