The Dominican Republic started its participation in the 2025 Nations League with an impressive 3:2 victory over Serbia in a Group A match played this evening in Ottawa. The match lasted a full 128 minutes and was a real thriller with many twists and dramatic moments. The match was very important for Bulgaria, as the "lionesses" face the girls from the Caribbean region this evening at 11 PM.

Match progression:

• First set:The match started very evenly. An intense battle was waged until the middle of the set, when the Dominican volleyball players managed to take a lead – 21:17, 22:18, 24:21. Then, however, Serbia showed character – on Aleksandra Uzelac's serve, they made a 4:0 run and took the lead at 25:24. This was followed by a fierce fight for every point. Serbia managed to use their third set point and closed the part with 28:26, leading 1:0.

• Second set:Serbia continued to dominate and took the lead – 14:11, then 17:14. The Dominicans reduced the deficit to 17:16, and then tied at 18:18. However, the Serbian team then made an impressive run of 6 consecutive points and led 24:18. Serbia capitalized on their second set point for a final 25:19 and led 2:0 in sets.

• Third set:The Dominican Republic started strong and led 3:0, increasing their lead to 13:5, a record for the set. The Serbs narrowed the gap to 15:11, but the Dominican Republic again extended the difference to 17:11. Ultimately, the third set was won by the Dominicans with 25:15, reducing the score to 2:1.

• Fourth set:The Dominican Republic took an early 4:1 lead, but Serbia quickly equalized at 6:6. At 8:8, Serbia made a run of three consecutive points for 11:8, then led 14:9. The Dominicans managed to narrow the gap to 15:13, and then with a 6:0 run, they turned the score around - 19:16. At the end of the set, they increased it to 25:20 and tied the sets at 2:2.

• Fifth set:The Dominican Republic led 3:1 and maintained their lead until 6:4. Serbia equalized at 6:6, and at 9:9, the Dominicans again took the lead – 11:9, then 13:11. Serbia equalized at 13:13, and the Dominican Republic reached their first match point at 14:13. After a mistake by the Dominican side, Serbia equalized and even reached match point – 15:14, but failed to convert it. After a mistake by Hena Kurtagić, the Dominicans took a second match point – 16:15. Serbia equalized at 16:16, but with two consecutive points, the Dominican Republic closed the match with 18:16.
  Thus, the Serbian team dropped one place in the ranking and is 10th, while Dominicana maintains its position (11).

Players:

• For Serbia:

  • Aleksandra Uzelac was the top scorer with 30 points and showed great potential as a young prospect.

  • Vanja Bukilić added 15 points.

  • Katarina Dangubić scored 14 points.

  • Hena Kurtagić scored 13 points.

• For the Dominican Republic:

  • Brayelin Martinez finished with 17 points.

  • Jineiry Martinez and Gaila Gonzalez added 16 points each.

  • Brenda Castillo finished with 10 points.

Next steps:

For Bulgaria, this is an important match, because this evening the Bulgarian volleyball players will face the Dominican Republic. Given the performance of the Dominicans against the strong team of Serbia, we expect a contested match in which the Bulgarian national team will have to be at the peak of their form.