Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, January 8, 2020 – Brayelin Martínez has emerged as the new scoring-machine of the Dominican Republic taking the spot previously owned by Bethania De la Cruz.
Martínez, the second best scorer of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League in 2018 and fourth best in 2019 with 250 and 258 points, respectively, is one of the pillars of the Dominican squad that will be seeking a ticket to the Olympic Games when the NORCECA Tokyo Volleyball Qualification 2020 tournament takes place in Santo Domingo.
The towering Martinez, who stands at 2.01 meters, is dreaming of an opportunity to show her scoring skills under the spotlight of the Olympic Games.
“I have played at the Volleyball Nations League, the World Cup and the World Championship so the Olympics are the only missing piece in my career,” said the 23-year-old Martinez, the third best scorer in last year’s World Cup with 197 points.
Martinez can see a big chance of realizing her dreams next weekend at the Sports Palace of Santo Domingo, where around 10,000 fans will be rooting for the home side.
“Playing at home give us an extra incentive to go for the ticket,” says Brayelin, whose younger sister Jineiry (22 years old) is one of the starting middle blockers of the Dominican team known as the Queens of the Caribbean.
Martínez is quick to make clear she has the utmost respect for the teams and players of Mexico, Canada and Puerto Rico who will also be competing for the ticket to Tokyo.
“You can’t live on past history and every day is a new day and you have to go out and perform,” she said. “Our job is to give our best effort to win the ticket in front of our fans and families.”
Martínez will combine with De la Cruz to form a tandem as strong as they come in terms of scoring. De la Cruz was the fifth best scorer of the 2019 VNL with 241 points and was ninth at the World Cup with 148 points.
Mexico’s top weapons are Andrea Rangel and Samantha Bricio, Canada has the duo of Alexa Gray and Kiera Van Ryk and Puerto Rico’s offense rely mostly on Paulina Prieto and Stephanie Enright.
“We have all the pieces in place ready for the first whistle next Friday and hopefully get the Daruma at the closing ceremony on Sunday,” Brayelin concluded.