The year 2007 was a challenging one for the Dominican
Republic Women's National Team.
Several injuries affected top players, who were unable to
take part in the 15th Pan American Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Nevertheless, the team's junior players were able to perform at their best
during this important intercontinental event and the Dominicans finished fifth.
The Dominicans finished 11th at the FIVB 2007 World Grand
Prix, and then, with key players back, the bronze medal was secured at the 6th
Pan American Women's Volleyball Cup held in Colima, Mexico. After an exciting
match against USA, the Dominican girls prevailed 25-19, 26-28, 25-18, 28-26.
During the 2007 NORCECA Continental Women's Volleyball
Championship, held in the city of Winnipeg, Canada, the Dominican Republic also
claimed the bronze with victory over Canada 25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13.
The Dominicans hopes of qualification for the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games were dashed after they were beaten by Canada 3-0 (24-26,
17-25, 19-25) in the semifinals of the Women's Continental Olympic
Qualification Tournament in December 2007 and they eventually finished fourth
after losing the bronze-medal match 3-2 to Puerto Rico.
Now everything is focused on the World Grand Prix and
preparing for the 2010 Women's World Championship in Japan, after the
Dominicans became the first team to qualify for the Final Round along with
defending champions Russia and the hosts, who received byes. The Dominicans
dominated NORCECA Pool H, going undefeated at the four-nation tournament
without dropping a single set.
It has been a long journey to this point for the
Dominican women's team.
Volleyball was introduced in the Dominican Republic in
1916 by the United States Marine Corps and they played in their first
international event in 1934, with the Caribbean Volleyball Tournament being
held in Port of Prince, Haiti.
In 1974 in Mexico, the Women's National Team played in
their first FIVB World Championship. They also took part in the 1978 World
Championship in Moscow, Russia.
In 1997, the Dominican Women claimed bronze at the
NORCECA Continental Championship. In 1998, they qualified for the World
Championship in Japan and finished in the top 10. They also participated in the
2002 World Championship in Germany.
At the 2003 World Cup, the qualifying event for the 2004
Olympic Games in Athens, the National Team finished 10th.
In December 2003, because of non-qualification in the
World Cup, the Dominican Girls participated in the NORCECA Women's Olympic
Qualification Tournament in Santo Domingo, finishing second to qualify for the
Intercontinental Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament in Caracas,
Venezuela.
This historical event saw the National Team finish with
an undefeated record, winning every match 3-0 against Venezuela, Argentina and
Peru to qualify for the Olympics for the first time.
Participating for the second time in the World Grand Prix
in 2005, the girls from Santo Domingo battled strongly against USA and Germany
to finish 11th overall.
The Dominican Republic Women's National Team then
qualified for a fifth time for the World Championship, finishing second at the
World Championship Qualification Tournament, NORCECA-E, in Santiago, Dominican
Republic.
In their third consecutive participation in the World
Grand Prix in 2006, the National Team finished eighth after obtaining second
place in the Poland stage of the competition, finishing ahead of USA and the hosts.