Brazil and Dominican Republic to battle for Olympic ticket

UBERLANDIA, Brazil, August 2, 2019 – Host Brazil rode a rocky path in their match against Azerbaijan before prevailing 3-2 (25-13, 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-12) in Pool D of the FIVB Women’s World Qualification Tournament on Friday.

The Brazilian squad advanced to a match on Saturday against the Dominican Republic for the first ticket, besides host Japan, to the female tournament of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The Dominican Republic downed Cameroon 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-14) relying mostly on reserve players. Yonkaira Peña came off the bench to lead the winners with 10 points.

In Pool A in Wroclaw, Serbia subdued Thailand 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-18) and host Poland beat Puerto Rico in straight sets 3-0 (25-18, 30-28, 25-15). Malwina Smarzek had 23 points for the local squad while Paulina Prieto led Puerto Rico with 11 points.

In Pool B in Ningbo, host China beat Czech Republic 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-19) and Turkey defeated Germany 3-1 (27-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-20).

In Pool C in Shreveport, Bulgaria outplayed Argentina 3-1 (24-26, 25-9, 25-18, 25-20) and host United States dominated Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-10). Kelsey Robinson and Tetori Dixon led the Americans with 11 and 9 points, respectively.

In Pool E in Kaliningrad, Canada lost to Korea 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-22). Yeong Koung Kim had 37 points for Korea and Alexa Lea Gray finished with 22 for Canada.

In the other match, host Russia beat Mexico 3-0 (25-13, 25-8, 26-24). Natalya Gonchareva topscored the winners with 12 points, while Andrea Rangel and Jocelyn Urias had 9 points apiece for Mexico.

In Pool F in Catania, Netherlands defeated Belgium 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-16), and host Italy beat Kenya 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-14).