Dominicans prevail in a thrilling 5-setter against Czechs

Brno, Czech Republic (fivb.com).- Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez and Annerys Victoria VargasValdez scored 15 points each to lead Dominican Republic to a five-set victory(25-22, 15-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-8) over Czech Republic in Brno on Sunday.

Today’s win helps Dominican Republic extend their FIVBWorld Grand Prix winning streak to five matches in a row. Before the beginningof the streak, the Dominican team had lost 15 consecutive World Grand Prixbattles.

The block was the key factor in the first set as theirdominance on the net helped Dominican Republic snatch an early 11-5 lead. Evena good streak on serve did not allow the hosts to fully come back in the set,as they eventually lost, 25-22.

The second set was a very one-sided affair. An outstandingall-round performance by the Czech team gave them a swift 25-15 win.

The third set saw neither team able to build a goodadvantage. It was the Dominicans who prevailed in the end, thanks to twoimpressive blocks from Isabel Pena and a couple of unforced errors from thehosts, with the set finishing at 25-21.

The fourth set was the most closely contested with bothsetters displaying variety in their passing game. The Czech Republic’s gamerested on the shoulders of the youngster Petra Kojdova, who eventually finishedthe match with 28 points to her name. After 30 minutes of rough battle, thehosts took the match into a tiebreak with a 26-24 win in the fourth.

Powerful serves from Marianne Fersola helped DominicanRepublic win the first four points of the final set. It was smooth sailing forthe visitors from then on as they raced away to snatch the tiebreak, 15-8.