The Dominican Republic missed a golden chance to record only its second victory in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2026. The team recovered from a two-set deficit against Belgium, took an 8:6 lead in the tie-break, but ultimately lost dramatically 2:3 (19:25, 20:25, 25:14, 26:24, 12:15).
The outcome of the match is good news for Bulgaria, which has two victories and continues its fight to remain among the elite. The Dominicans are left with only one win and continue to occupy the penultimate 17th place in the temporary VNL standings. By the end of the tournament, they have three more tough matches – against Ukraine, China, and Canada.
Statistics show how painful the defeat is for the Caribbean team. The Dominican Republic finished with more block points (11:7) and benefited from significantly more opponent errors (30:23), but Belgium compensated with superiority in attack (67:60) and serving (6:1 aces), which proved decisive at the end of the match. The Belgians also had a minimal advantage in total points – 103:102.
The most effective player for the winners was Martin (10) with 22 points, while Fransen (20) added 15. For the Dominican Republic, Pe ña Isabel (16) scored 19 points, and Gaila (23) finished with 17.
The loss also affected the world ranking. The Dominican Republic dropped one position and is now 13th in the world, having lost 6.14 points, while Belgium gained the same amount and remains 14th. For the Belgians, this is their fourth tie-break victory (they also have two 2:3 losses, editor's note), which leaves them in 11th position in the VNL with 10 points.

photo:volleyballworld.com