Competing in Pool 1, the Dominican Republic senior women’s volleyball team (Reinas del Caribe), ranked 11th by FIVB, had opened its participation in the Volleyball Nations League 2025 in Ottawa, Canada on 4 June 2025 with a decisive five-game win against Serbia, ranked 10th. The Dominican team’s massive comeback in the second half of the game made headlines when the Reinas defeated the Serbians in the final minute. The DR won that game 26-28, 19-25, 25-15, 25-20, and 18-16.
But then, even more surprising, the DR would lose its next match to Bulgaria, a team ranked 20th. Bulgaria won 25-21, 30-32, 25-19, 31-29 (3-1)
The DR would rally back with another come from behind defeat this time of the Netherlands, ranked 9th. The match against the Dutch was full of ups and downs from both sides. The Reinas del Caribe would prevail 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 28-26, 22-25, 15-13).
The DR would also lose to Japan, ranked 7th, 3 games to 0.
As reported by VNL, against the Dutch, the Dominican team’s two main scorers Brayelin Martínez and Gaila González combined for an impressive 51 points – the outside hitter registered 26, with 23 kills, two blocks and one ace, while the opposite produced 25, with 19 kills, three blocks and three aces.
“As Dominicans, we never give up,” Martinez reflected after the match. “We always bring our joy into the court, and that helps us. It was a really tough match, and I think that our experience made a difference. I’m very glad that I got to help my team, and I want to congratulate the Dutch team because they did a really good job.”
After Bulgaria lost 3-0 to Netherlands (21-25, 16-25 and 23-25), the scores were enough to keep the Dominican team in play, and the team now travels to Turkey for the next round.
The DR will first play Turkey (ranked 3rd by FIVB) on Wednesday, 18 June in Istanbul. On 19 June, the team will match Belgium (ranked 16th). The following games are against Brazil (ranked 1st) on 21 June and South Korea (ranked 37th) on 22 June.
Follow the championship:
Volleyball World
DR vs Serbia
DR vs Bulgaria
DR vs Netherlands
Japan vs DR
Diario Libre
9 June 2025