Brenda Castillo

Brenda Castillo (born June 5, 1992, in San Cristóbal) is a volleyball player from the Dominican Republic and plays as a libero.

Castillo is 167 cm tall and weighs 55 kg. She was born on June 5, 1992, in Haina, San Cristóbal.

Her parents are Argentina and Alfonso.

She is married to Julio Enrique de los Santos.

She started practicing volleyball when she was ten under the guidance of coach Valentín Arias Pérez in the club Siglo XXI.

Her nickname is "Chin Chin", which translates from colloquial Dominican speech as "small portion".

She is also recognized for having a pretty face and model looks.

She then played the 2007 Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup in Colima, Mexico.

Castillo then played in the 2007 Pan American Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Her national team lost in the quarterfinals after falling to Peru and ending up in fifth place.

Castillo played in August her first Worldwide competition by playing the annual FIVB World Grand Prix in Tokyo, Japan

then Hong Kong, China and finally Taipei, where her team won their first competition's match ranking in eleventh place overall.

After that competition, she moved in September with her national Senior Team to Winnipeg, Canada, playing the NORCECA Championship.

There she won the bronze medal.

She then took part in the world cup in the FIVB World Cup when the Dominican Republic was assigned with a wild card.

Her country ranked ninth after winning only three matches during the competition.

In the second half of December, Castillo played in Monterrey, Mexico the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament; but her team fell 0–3 to Canada in the semifinals getting out of contention for the Olympic berth and later 2–3 to Puerto Rico in the Bronze medal match.

Castillo also won the 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2016 Pan American Cup championship.

She became runner-up with San Cristóbal at the 2008 Dominican Republic Volleyball League and won the silver medal in the 2012–13 and the bronze in the 2013–14 CEV Champions League with Rabita Baku.

Her team qualified for the 2008 FIVB World Grand Prix with a 3–2 victory in quarterfinals over Puerto Rico, and finally winning the competition's bronze medal with a 3–1 victory over the United States.

She played for the Senior National Team at the 2008 Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan.

There her team ended up in fourth place, and did not qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

She then played in July with her National Junior Team, winning the silver medal at the 2008 NORCECA Junior Continental Championship U-20, and was elected Most Valuable Player, Best Libero, Best Digger and Best Receiver.

Shortly afterwards Castillo claimed with her Senior Team the gold medal at the 2008 Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup in Mexico as a sixteen-year-old.

Later that year her team won the silver medal at the Final Four Cup, as she won the Rising Star award.

During the Holy Week Sport Festival held in Hato Mayor, Castillo played Beach Volleyball (three) with Yenifer Calcaño and Evelyn Carrera winning the Gold Medal of the event.

She won the silver medal at the 2009 U20 World Championship, 2013 U23 World Championship and Bronze in the 2009 FIVB Women's World Grand Champions Cup and the 2015 Pan American Games.

She won the gold medal of the 2009 NORCECA Championship, 2010 Final Four and the 2010 and 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games.

She won with her Senior team the silver medal and the "Rising Star" award at the 2009 Pan-American Cup.

In June 2009, at the 2010 World Championship NORCECA Qualification Pool H, at Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, she took the public ovation at the Gran Arena del Cibao winning the Best Digger, Best Receiver, Best Libero and MVP awards.

She then participated with her Junior National Team she won the silver medal at the 2009 U20 World Championship, being awarded Best Digger, Best Receiver, Best Libero and MVP awards.

At the San Cristóbal Carnival 2010, Castillo was named Queen of the Carnival, "Reina Califé".

After living a hard life, she decided to become a Christian in 2010.

Castillo used to arrive late to national team practices because of a problem with alcohol, but decided to change her life in order to help herself and her family.

In club competition, Castillo won the 2011 Puerto Rican League with Criollas de Caguas and the 2012-13, 2013-14 Azerbaijan Super League and 2014–15 with Rabita Baku.

She was a member of the Dominican Republic national team that won fifth place in the 2012 Summer Olympics, while she was named the tournament's Best Libero.

She played in the 2014 World Championship reaching also the fifth place and ranking 17th in the 2010 World Championship and the 2011 FIVB World Cup where her national team ranked eight and the 2015 FIVB World Cup, winning the Best Libero individual award and ranking in seventh place.

In January 2015, she revealed via Instagram the pictures of her wedding with Julio Enrique de los Santos.

She often shares Bible verses on her Facebook account.

Castillo played with the Senior National Team that traveled to Guadalajara, Spain for a friendly series.