The Dominican Republic finished second in the first round, winning matches against Japan and Thailand and losing to the Netherlands. The team now reopens the Grand Prix competition playing in Pool E1 against Russia on Friday, 14 July at 1:10pm.
As reported on the FIVB website, Russia, the reigning European champion, is looking to break a five-match losing streak when playing against the Dominican Republic in Kaliningrad. Russia has never lost to the Caribbean side the 12 times they’ve come head-to-head in any official competition. The Russians lost to the USA, China and Italy in their first round. The DR trailed the Netherlands by one point after losing to the Netherlands, but defeating Thailand and Japan in the first round that took place in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
Next the Dominican team will play the Netherlands on 15 July and Belgium on 16 July.
On week 3, the team will travel to Thailand to play in Group H1 against Italy, Thailand and Turkey.
The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) rankings of the teams as of August 2016 are: Russia is ranked 5th, Japan 6th, the Netherlands 7th, Italy 8th, Dominican Republic 9th, Turkey 12th, Thailand 14th, Belgium 16th.
The Dominican Republic senior women’s volleyball is playing along with the 32 best teams in the world in the 2017 World Grand Prix that is taking place between 7 July and 6 August, at different venues around the world with the finals scheduled for Nanjing, China. The 2017 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix is in its 25th edition.
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World Grand Prix
