Volleyball players book victory over Dominicans in the hunt for an Olympic ticket

This article was last updated on May 31, 2024

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Volleyball players book victory over Dominicans in the hunt for an Olympic ticket

The Dutch volleyball players won the Nations League match with the Dominican Republic 3-1, an important victory in view of the Olympic mission. The Dutch team, helped by star Nova Marring, was too strong in Macau, China, 25-17, 23-25, 25-21 and 25-17.

The Dutch team quickly opened up a gap in the first set, but saw the Dominicans, who had already qualified for Paris, come alongside again. After a long rally was won with hard work on 11-12, things started to go well for the Netherlands. Defensively everything was fine and offensively Elles Dambrink was particularly good.

Route to Paris 2024

Twelve countries may participate in the Olympic Games, host country France is qualified directly. Six countries have qualified via OKTs. For the women, these are: Dominican Republic, Serbia, Turkey, Brazil, the US and Poland. The remaining five tickets are distributed based on the world rankings. This will be drawn up in June, after the group stage of the Nations League. First, we look at the high-ranking countries on continents that do not yet have a ticket. Once all continents are represented, the highest-ranking countries receive the last tickets. The Netherlands is now tenth in the world rankings.

That flying start turned out to be no guarantee for a similar sequel. The Netherlands allowed the Dominican Republic to advance to 2-7 with six points in a row. Because a win was called for and preferably without losing a set, coach Felix Koslowski’s women straightened out.

And with success: thanks to a few aces and kill blocks, the catch-up race was completed at 20-20, after which Marring also registered the 21-20. The momentum seemed to belong to the Dutch team, but the Dominican Republic was the first to reach set point and was promptly used.

A setback, but not a downer that threw the Netherlands off balance. The team lost a small lead in the third set, but then, helped by a good service, took distance again. And this time the team was no longer surprised. After a long rally full of Dutch attacking violence, Celeste Plak scored the decisive point.

This broke the resistance of the Dominicans, who had entered the match as number ten in the world, but lost that position to the Netherlands due to the defeat. But that is far from the end of the matter for the Netherlands, which still faces a tough programme, including a confrontation with direct competitor Canada.

Orange in the Nations League

After the four games that the Netherlands already played in Antalya, Turkey, the Dutch team is now in Macau, China, for another series of four games. France is the last opponent on Sunday (6.30 am).

The last four matches will be played from June 12. In Fukuoka, Japan, the Netherlands will successively meet European and world champion Serbia, the United States, competitor Canada and South Korea.