Playing in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Sunday 18 August, the Dominican Republic easily defeated Algeria 3-0 (25-11, 25-9, 25-8) for a total of six victories in the World Grand Prix edition, two more than the previous record of four wins in 2008. The DR almost made it as it tied with Turkey, Italy in games won, but lost by points. The DR ended in 10th place with 17 points, not enough to move on to the next round.
“I am very proud of the team’s performance throughout the World Grand Prix,” stated Marcos Kwiek, the Brazilian coach of the Dominican Republic team. “We got two second-place finishes and one third place so it is by far our best showing ever at this event.”
“Here it was a very close battle as three teams – Turkey, Italy and us – finished with the same win-loss record, total points and set-ratios,” added Kwiek. “Then we continued tied with Turkey in points-ratio (1.168) and the first place was decided by the match won by the Turkish against us in five sets.”
At the closing ceremony, Dominicans Vargas, De la Cruz and Prisilla Rivera were awarded trophies for best middle blocker, best spiker and best blocker respectively.
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