Paris.- In their Olympic debut in Paris, the ‘Queens of the Caribbean’ of the Dominican Republic faced a 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-21 and 25-18) defeat against Italy, the world’s number one team that proved to be a very solid opponent for the team led by Brazilian coach Marcos Kwiek.
The South Paris Arena was witness to moments of equality at the beginning of the inaugural match of group C of the women’s volleyball tournament at the Paris Olympics. However, when they were 10-10, the team under the direction of Argentine coach Julio Velasco achieved a decisive 5-0 partial, fundamental for the outcome of the first set.
Led in the attack by Fatime Sylla and Anna Danesi and with a standout performance by Luisa Fahr in the blocks, the Italians managed to maintain a comfortable advantage until the end of the first set, despite the efforts of the Dominicans and the outstanding performance of Gaila González.
Despite starting to lose, the Pan American champions showed resilience and improved their performance, balancing the game in the second set that was closely contested until its conclusion, evidencing their ability to overcome critical moments.
With the score 24-23 in favor of Italy, a point by Gaila González, a block by Estefany Arias and a serve out of Paola Egonu, determined the set (24-26) in favor of the Dominican Republic.
Italy, reaffirming its position as number one in the world ranking with a standout performance by Paola Egonu, won again in the third set by 25-21, showing themselves to be merciless against the Dominicans.
Although Gaila González, Jineiry Martínez and Yonkaira Peña showed their quality, it was not enough to overcome the solid Italian defense, culminating the match with a 25-18 that secured the victory for the team of Julio Velasco.
In their next matches in group C of the women’s volleyball tournament at the Paris Olympics, the Dominicans will face significant challenges. They will play against Turkey, third-ranked in the world, on August 1 and against the Netherlands on August 3.
credits of the images of this post: Elnacional.com.do
