Bethania De La Cruz scores against Canada's triple block
Olomouc, Czech Republic, June 11, 2016 - The Dominican Republic confirmed their favourite status in the World Grand Prix Group 2 after completing a tough 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-21) win over Canada with star wingspiker Bethania De La Cruz scoring 17 points.
On the other side of the net, the best scorer was Michaela Reesor with nine points.
Canada entered the match winless in the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2016 and although this was the first encounter in the World Grand Prix for both teams, the Dominican Republic had defeated Canada 3-1 in their previous match up in the 2015 NORCECA Championship semifinals.
The Dominican Republic extended their winning streak to four with De La Cruz registering 15 spikes, one block and one ace, which was almost twice as much as Canada's best scorer Reesor.
Both teams played closely until the first technical time out. After the break Marianne Fersola went to serve and sent on the other side seven services in a row, turning the score into 12-7 lead. This helped Dominican Republic team to keep the domination until the end of set and win it 25-16.
Second part continued in the same rhythm. Canada played good in reception, but Dominican players were much more aggressive on the net taking the lead at 13-11. Canadians didn't give up and started to take more risks, reaching second technical time out first 15-16 and made it to the set ball at 23-24. Dominican players showed their experience, held in the tough moments and won 27-25.
Third set started as tight as second finished. Canada discovered that they are able to challenge Dominican Republic's physical play and fought for each point. The long rallies were appreciated by local fans and Dominican Republic needed to come back on top of their performance to reach second technical time out 16-14. Coach Kwiek stopped the game at 20-17 to motivate his team, who successfully reached the end of match at 25-21.