Netherlands downed Dominican Republic 3-0

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, June 5, 2018 - The Netherlands bounced back as the hosts dominated the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-18) as home favourite Lonneke Slöetjes led the way in Rotterdam on Tuesday.

The opposite spiker smashed down 16 winners on offense (for a total of 18 points) and had the knack of saving her most telling contributions for vital stages of the game to help the homeside bounce back from a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Brazil in week 3. 

Yvon Belien and Celeste Plak backed up Slöetjes with 10 total points each.

Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez was lethal on the other side of the net but her 19 points were simply not enough to overcome her team's unforced errors (20 to the Netherlands' 12).

The encounter seemed lopsided as the Dominicans headed to Rotterdam with just two wins (to seven defeats). Even with Brayelin Martinez, the fourth-best scorer in the VNL on 155 points.

The Netherlands have won eight of the nine previous encounters with the Caribbean side - their last defeat as far back as 44 years ago, at the 1974 FIVB World Championship, when the two sides met for the first time.