Dominican Republic and Netherlands split victories 

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, August 13, 2006.- Women teams of Dominican Republic and The Netherlands split victories in a two-matches friendly series played in Amsterdam and Rotterdam during the weekend.

The Dominicans, who start competing in the FIVB World Grand Prix next Wednesday in Poland, took the first encounter prevailing in a five-setter by score of 25-19, 21-25, 25-13, 23-25, 15-9, and the Dutch team won the second by blanking its opponent by 25-21, 25-17, 25-17.

Milagros Cabral led five Dominicans in double-figures in the first match with 20 points while Annerys Vargas followed with 19, including 9 blocks. Cindy Rondon added 13, and Cosiris Rodriguez and Nurys Arias each had 11 points. Manon Flier was the best for the host team with 20 points and Floortje Meijners added 15.

The Dominicans, fresh from their gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games with a victory over Cuba, have now recorded wins against three squads ranked among the top ten by FIVB in the last couple of months. They also defeated USA at the Pan American Cup in June.

The Dutch avenged the loss with a lopsided victory in Rotterdam with a well balanced attack. Meijners, Mirjam Orsel and Carlijn Jans each had 7 points. Vargas had a match-high 14 points for Dominican Republic and Cabral added 7 points.