China and Serbia earn tickets to Rio

NAGOYA, Japan, September 6, 2015 – China secured their fourth World Cup title and a berth in the Rio Olympic Games here on Sunday with a 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22) victory over Japan in their last match and a 10-1 win-loss record at the 2015 FIVB Women’s World Cup.

Zhu Ting led the Chinese team with 27 points and Zhang Changning and Yan Ni added 13 and 10 points respectively. Sarina Koga was the top scorer for Japan with 20 points and Miyu Nagaoka added 19.

In Komaki, Tijana Boskovic recorded 24 kills, five blocks and an ace to help Serbia earn their Rio 2016 Olympic Games ticket after they defeated Argentina 3-2 (25-16, 25-19, 20-25, 23-25, 15-4) on Sunday.

The Serbians finished the competition with a 10-1 record. After losing their very first game to China in four sets in the first round, the Serbians completed it with a 10-match winning streak.

In Nagoya, world champions the United States wrapped up their play with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-17) rout of Dominican Republic.

Nicole Fawcett scored 15 points and Tetori Dixon and Jordan Larson-Burbach added 12 and 11 respectively as the United States finished the tournament with nine wins and two losses.

Yonkaira Pena was the top scorer of Dominican Republic with 12 points.

Dominican Republic, whose previous best result at the World Cup was an eighth in 2011, finished in seventh place with five wins against six losses in the 12-team round robin tournament.

In Komaki, Cuba surged in the fifth set to defeat Korea 3-2 (25-22, 18-25, 16-25, 30-28, 15-13). Cuba finished with a 4-7 win-loss record.

The Cuban team effort prevailed over Kim Yeon-Koung’s 37-point performance in the intense five-set match. Five Cuban starters scored in double figures, with Heidy Rodriguez and Regla Gracia scoring 22 and 17 points, respectively.