MONTERREY, Mexico, December 22, 2007.- Cuba will enter the Olympic Games for the eighth time after scoring one clear victory in straight sets over Canada (25-19, 25-9, 25-16) in the gold medal clash of the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier.

Winners of the gold medal in Barcelona ’92, Atlanta ’96 and Sidney 2000, the Cubans took the bronze medal in Athens ’04. They also participated in Munich ’72, Montreal ’76 and Moscow ’80.

Veteran Yumilka Ruiz had 17 points for Cuba and Kenia Carcaces and Nancy Carrillo each added 11 tallies. Setter Yanelis Santos had 6 of 13 Cuban’s blocks and totalled 9 points. More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 22, 2007.- Puerto Rico resisted a come-from- behind surge of its rival and beat Dominican Republic in a sensational match for the bronze medal at the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier. The scores were 25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 15-25, 22-20.

Puerto Rican Sarai Alvarez was the best scorer of the match with 30 points. Aury Cruz had 22 and Eva Cruz 10. Meanwhile, Dominicans Bethania de la Cruz and Sidarka Nunez had 26 and 20 points respectively, Annerys Vargas scored 14 and Cosiri Rodriguez 10. More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 22, 2007.- Call it raw talent or a team in the building process. That is the way scouts give their qualifications when projecting a team or a particular player.

Trinidad & Tobago exited the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier without a victory or having won a single set, but they left quite an impression on the eyes of those judging athletic qualities and potential. More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 21, 2007.- Canada scored a major surprise by blanking Dominican Republic and moving to a match for the gold medal and the Beijing Games’ berth against Cuba at the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier. The scores were 27-25, 25-17, 25-19.

Tasha Holness and Stacey Gordon were the best Canadians with 14 and 13 points while Milagros Cabral had 12 for Dominican Republic.

“It is a great day for Canada’s volleyball because is the first victory over Dominican Republic in eight years,” said Naoki Miyashita, the coach of Canada. More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 21, 2007.- Cuba advanced to the final match of the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier with a  straight sets victory over Puerto Rico. The score was 25-23, 25-19, 25-12.

Yumilka Ruiz topped the Cuban offence with 15 points and Nancy Carrillo added 12. For Puerto Rico, Sarai Alvarez and Aury Cruz had 11 and 10 respectively.

“We committed many errors in the first set both in reception and serving,” said Antonio Perdomo, the Cuban coach. “But fortunately we improved our serve starting midway of the second set and it was really nasty. We have been playing better and better and we need to improve tomorrow in the final to attain our objective.”

“The experience of the Cubans allows them to play these matches under pressure. We could not capitalize their mistakes in the first set and couldn’t keep the lead in the second. The third set was a knockout.”  More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 21, 2007.- Xitlali Herrera belongs to the new breed of Mexican Volleyball players and the slender teenager is giving signs of a promising future in the sport.

Volleyball comes natural to Herrera as her mother Nilia played the sport and two uncles –Lucio and Imelda- were members of the National Team as is currently her brother Edgar.

Xitlali, who participated in the Girl’s World Youth Championship this year, is emerging as one of the favourites to win the “Rising Star” award to be presented at the end of the Women’s Olympic Qualifier to the most outstanding player under 18 years-old. More Spanish

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 21, 2007.- Mexico finished in the fifth position of the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier by defeating Trinidad & Tobago in straights sets by scores of 25-5, 25-23, 25-13.

Martha Revuelta was the best Mexican with 12 points, Bibi Candelas added 9, Carolina Carranzo scored 8 and Celida Cordova contributed 7, all with serves.

Mexico trounced Trinidad & Tobago in the first set with a flurry of serves that caused many troubles to the opponent’s reception. More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 20, 2007.- Puerto Rico will meet Cuba in the semi finals of the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier following the victory in straight sets over Mexico by score of 25-19, 25-23, 25-22 on Thursday.

Eva Cruz and Aury Cruz had 15 and 12 points for Puerto Rico. Sarai Alvarez had 9 and Tatiana Encarnacion added 8. Bibi Candelas and Martha Revuelta had 15 and 12 respectively for Mexico.

“We took the game very seriously against Mexico,” said Juan Carlos Nunez, the Puerto Rican coach. More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 20, 2007.- Canada advanced to a semi final match against the Dominican Republic with an easy victory over Trinidad & Tobago in the first match of Thursday at the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier Tournament. The North Americans won by score of 25-12, 25-13, 25-14.

Falin Schaeffer and Tasha Holnes led Canada with 10 and 9 points respectively. Schaeffer included 6 blocks and Holness added 5. Krystle Esdelle led Trinidad & Tobago with 10 points and Darlene Ramdin added 8.

“Trinidad & Tobago continues to improve every year and is a team with good potential,” said Naoki Miyashita, the coach of Canada. “I am excited about the match of tomorrow against Dominican Republic and we will give our best effort.”

“I am deeply satisfied with the performance of my team against a team as strong as Canada,” said Francisco Cruz, the coach of Trinidad & Tobago. “We scored much better today and the girls seemed to be more relaxed.” More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 19, 2007.- Cuba had to battle to defeat Puerto Rico 3-1 and win Pool A of the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier. The score was 23-25, 25-15, 25-20, 27-25 and the Cubans out blocked the opponents 22-5.

Veteran Yumilka Ruiz led five Cuban players in double figures with 18 points. She was joined by Kenia Carcaces (16), Nancy Carrillo (15) and Yanelis Santos and Daimi Ramirez with 12 apiece. Puerto Rican Aury Cruz totalled 24 points while Ania Ruiz and Sarai Alvarez each contributed 11 tallies.

“For the last year and a half we have been close to beat the big teams of the area and still don’t learn how to do it,” said Juan Carlos Nunez, the Puerto Rican coach. “Today we lacked another hot hand to accompany Aury Cruz. At the end the Cuban blocking was over Cruz.” More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, México, December 19, 2007.- Dominican Republic won Pool B of the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier by blanking Mexico 25-20, 25-15, 25-18.

Bethania de la Cruz was the best in the balanced Dominican offence with 16 points. Milagros Cabral had 10, Sidarka Nunez added 8 and Cindy Rondon and Cosiri Rodriguez provided 7 points apiece. Bibi Candelas led Mexico with 8.

“We have to improve our counter-attacks,” said Beato Miguel Cruz, the Dominican coach. “Our blocking was good and also the attack. More Spanish  P2 form

MONTERREY, México, December 18, 2007.- Nancy Carrillo, the most heralded Cuban player during the past year, is confident her side will be crowned here at the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier where one spot for Beijing is being disputed by six teams.

“We have prepared very well in order to secure the ticket to Beijing, the pressure must end here in Monterrey,” said Cuban Nancy Carrillo, the most valuable player in almost every tournament in which she has taken part this year.

The Cubans are the top favourites to take home the only berth to the Summer Games being disputed in the Olympic Qualifier played in the Nuevo Leon Gymnasium, in the light of the last encounters between the teams of the area where only United States is ahead of the islanders with three wins and two losses in 2007.  More Spanish

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 18, 2007.- Dominican Republic defeated Trinidad & Tobago in straight sets by score of 25-9, 25-12, 25-15 in just 53 minutes in the second match of Tuesday of the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament.

Coach Beato Miguel Cruz used all his players and Bethania de la Cruz resulted in the best scorer with 10 tallies. Annerys Vargas, Cosiri Rodriguez and Prisilla Rivera each contributed 6 points. Krystle Esdelle led the Trinidadians with 8 points. “We tried to minimize our unforced errors in the first two sets and we achieved our goal,” said the Dominican coach.  More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 18, 2007.- Canada edged a resilient Puerto Rico in five sets to even its record at 1-1 in Pool A of the Norceca Women’s Qualification Tournament. The score was 25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 18-25, 16-14.

Tasha Holness was the best Canadian with 18 points, including 8 blocks, while Stacey Gordon and Tammy Mahon added 17 and 14 respectively. Puerto Rican Sarai Alvarez led all the scorers with 27 points and siblings Aury and Eva Cruz added 16 and 11. “We played well during the first two sets but then Puerto Rico came back strong.  More Spanish  P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 17, 2007.- Host Mexico blanked Trinidad & Tobago 25-12, 25-14, 25-15, in the nightcap of the inaugural day at the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament.

Martha Revuelta and Bibi Candelas led Mexico with 12 and 11 points respectively and Krystle Esdelle had 12 for Trinidad & Tobago.

“I am very happy because we maintained the rhythm during most of the match,” said Macario Gonzalez, the Mexican coach. “Our mid-term goal is to insert us in the same group of Canada and Puerto Rico and then to beat those teams.” More Spanish P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 17, 2007.- Cuba defeated Canada 25-20, 25-23, 25-23 in the first match of the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Rachel Sanchez led Cuba with 13 points, Yumilka Ruiz and Nancy Carrillo each added 12 and Rosir Calderon contributed 11 tallies. Tammy Mahon with 10 points led Canada while Tasha Holness and Shelley Chalmers had 6 apiece.

“We need to play better than today to qualify to Beijing, but I am confident we will,”  More Spanish

 P2 form

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 17 2007.- The Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament starts on Monday here with favourite and third world-ranked Cuba meeting Canada (24) and host Mexico (25) entertaining Trinidad & Tobago (70).

Six teams –Dominican Republic (14) and Puerto Rico (19) are the other two- will be battling for one single spot in the next Beijing Olympic Games. More Spanish

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 11, 2007.- Six women’s teams from NORCECA will be battling for one Olympic berth in the Pre-Olympic Continental  Tournament to be held in this Mexican city on December 17-23.

According to the Olympic qualification process the champion of this competition will join USA as competitors in the Beijing event. The Americans qualified to the Summer Games as third place finisher in the World Cup.

Cuba, currently third placed in the FIVB World Rankings as November 16, emerges as strong favourite to win the six-team tournament where Dominican Republic (14), Puerto Rico (19), Canada (24), More Spanish

SANTA ANA, El Salvador, December 10, 2007.- Guatemala was crowned as Youth Boy’s Central American Champions (U-19) by defeating Costa Rica in the match for the gold medal.

Héctor Juarez was elected as the Most Valuable Player and two other Guatemalans made the All-Star Team as Sergio Ralda and Hugo Cardona were best setter and libero respectively.

The team of Guatemala won the decisive match by score of 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 25-13. In the match for the bronze medal, host El Salvador defeated Nicaragua 25-14, 25-21, 25-16. More Spanish

HAVANA, Cuba, December 7, 2007.- The two main Cuban women’s pairs are in a privileged position for landing spots in the Beijing Olympic Games.

The two-time Olympics Tamara Larrea and Dalixia Fernandez hope to be present in their third straight summer competition, now that they are in 13 place of the rankings for the capital of China and 20th for the world.

Meanwhile, the younger Milagros Crespo and Imara Estevez are in a similar situation with their 14 and 22nd positions respectively, but both pairs with real chances to improve in the Olympic rankings because each country can only be represented by two pairs per gender in the Beijing event.

For example, currently Brazil and United States have four pairs placed among the top 24 and Germany has three,  More Spanish

BRANDONS BEACH, Barbados.- Jamaicans Dany Wilson / Mark Lewis and the Barbados pair of Anthazia Mason / Sharon Bovell completed clean sweeps of the Men’s and Ladies competition of the Sizzlin Sand Caribbean SUNSPLASH events for 2007 when they won their respective divisions in the Barbados SUNSPLASH at Brandons Beach last month.

Mason / Bovell faced the Trinidadian pair of Nancy Joseph / Elki Philips in the ladies final and gave hometown fans lots to cheer about in a hard fought 21-13, 14-21, 15-10 victory over their Trinidadian rivals. More Spanish

PORT OF SPAIN, December 5, 2007.-  The Trinidad and Tobago Volleyball Teams is now the Caribbean Youth, Junior and Senior Champions.  The Junior Team won the title earlier this year in US Virgin Islands while the senior team won their title in Bahamas last year.  Now the youth team wrapped up the history making event to become the champion team in the first Caribbean Youth Champion which was held this weekend in Port of Spain Trinidad.

Team Captain Renele Forde led from the front as she was voted the “Most Valuable Player” and “Best Setter” after leading T&T Under-17 girls to the title in the Caribbean Youth Volleyball Championships hosted by the T&T Volleyball Federation on Sunday.

In the final played at the Jean Pierre Complex, Forde led the T&T girls to a come-from-behind win over US Virgin Islands 22-25, 25-21, 25-11, 25-21 in the tournament decider. More Spanish

TOKYO, Japan, December 3, 2007.- Puerto Rican Hector Soto was the best scorer of the Men’s World Cup won by Brazil with Russia and Bulgaria also securing berths in next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing.

Soto, who also was the top scorer in last year’s World Championship, totalled 243 points and was followed by Australian Paul Carroll with 200.

Brazilian Gilberto (Giba) Godoy was the Most Valuable Player as it was the case in the 2006 World Championship in Japan. Giba led Brazil with 127 points good only for the fourteenth position in the scoring department.  More Spanish

TOKYO, Japan, December 2, 2007.- Russia joined Brazil and Bulgaria in the Beijing Olympics by beating USA 3-2 in a World Cup decider at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Sunday. The Russians won 25-23, 20-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-8 to improve to 9-2 and leave USA stranded on 8-3 and out of the top three.

Semen Poltavsky led Russia with 23 points.  Gabe Gardner led USA with 21 points and Reid Priddy added 17 in the losing cause.

Bulgaria booked a place in the 2008 Olympic Games by sweeping Argentina 3-0. The tournament wild cards beat the South American vice champions 25-17, 25-22, 25-23 to finish the 12-team round-robin with a 9-2 record -- good enough to secure a podium finish and a place in Beijing.  Argentina, ranked ninth in the world, ended with a losing 5-6 record. More Spanish

TOKYO, Japan, December 1, 2007.- The United States stayed on course for Beijing with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Argentina in the first match of the day at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

The NORCECA champions breezed past the South American vice champions 25-16, 25-19, 25-18 to improve their World Cup win-loss record to 8-2 ahead of their Sunday showdown with Russia.

Ranked fifth in the world, the Americans were too fast, strong and experienced for the ninth-ranked Argentines, who dropped to 5-5.  More Spanish

TOKYO, Japan, November 30, 2007.- The USA Men’s National Team continued to storm through the 2007 FIVB World Cup on Friday with a 25-18, 27-25, 25-19 victory over host Japan at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

The win improves Team USA’s record to 7-2 and keeps it in third place. However, Bulgaria, which was tied with the United States for third, kept the pressure on by defeating previously unbeaten Russia (25-21, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-12) on Friday.

The top three World Cup finishers qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games. Reid Priddy led the U.S. scorers with 16 points on 12 kills and four blocks.

NORCECA vice champions Puerto Rico crushed Tunisia in straight sets at Komazawa Gymnasium in Tokyo on Friday.  More Spanish

OKAYAMA, Japan, November 27, 2007.- NORCECA champions United States cruised past Asian champions Australia 25-17, 25-12, 25-19 at the men’s World Cup on Tuesday.

Led by the impressive Reid Priddy and man of the match Lloy Ball at Momotaro Arena in Okayama, the U.S. were far too powerful for the Aussies and improved to 6-2, while Russell Borgeaud’s men dropped to 3-5.

Priddy led the Americans with 13 points and Gabriel Gardner and Ryan Millar added 11 and 10 respectively. Australian Paul Carroll, the leading scorer of the event, had 14 tallies.

In Fukuoka, Russia will head to Tokyo for the final phase of the World Cup with a perfect 8-0 win-loss record after blanking Puerto Rico. The European vice champions, who have won the World Cup five times as the former Soviet Union and as Russia, downed Puerto Rico 25-22, 25-21, 25-19. More Spanish

FUKUOKA, Japan, November 26, 2007.- Puerto Rico avenged their loss to Japan in the World Championship last year with a straight-sets sweep of the World Cup hosts in the third match of the day at Marine Messe Fukuoka on Monday night.

Puerto Rico won 25-23, 25-23, 25-21 to improve their win-loss record to 4-3, dropping Japan to 3-4 in the process with four matches to go.

At the 2006 World Championship, Japan beat Puerto Rico 3-1, winning the fourth set 36-34 on their seventh match point after Puerto Rico had missed five set points of their own.

Hector Soto led Puerto Rico with 21 points, Enrique Escalante added 13 and Victor Rivera contributed 11 tallies.

In Okayama, NORCECA champions United States stormed past Korea in straight sets to improve to 5-2. More Spanish

OKAYAMA, Japan, November 25, 2007 - NORCECA champions United States bounced back from losing the first set to beat African vice champions Tunisia at Momotaro Arena in Okayama on Sunday.

Led by some impressive play from man of the match Gabriel Gardner, Team USA weathered an early Tunisian storm to prevail 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 and improve to 4-2 in the men's World Cup, while the North Africans dropped to 1-5.

Gardner had 20 points, Reid Priddy added 17 and Ryan Miller and Riley Salmon had 11 points apiece.

In Fukuoka Argentina came back from two sets down to beat Puerto Rico 3-2 in the first match of the day at Marine Messe Fukuoka on Sunday.

Puerto Rico looked comfortable after winning the first two sets in style, but the South Americans regrouped to come back and take it on their first match point in the tiebreak. More Spanish

TOYAMA, Japan, November 23, 2007.- In their first-ever meeting, NORCECA vice champions Puerto Rico notched a straightforward 3-0 victory over European champions Spain in the men’s World Cup on Friday.

The Puerto Ricans won 25-18, 25-22, 25-18 at Toyama City General Gymnasium, guided by the Most Important Player Hector Soto, to improve to 3-2, while Spain dropped to 2-3.

Hector Soto was the best Puerto Rican with 21 points and Victor Rivera and Jose Rivera added 9 and 8 respectively. Guillermo Falasca led Spain with 12 points.

In another match in Toyama, NORCECA champions United States beat African champions Egypt in straight forward fashion. The USA Team won 25-22, 25-18, 25-19 to improve to 3-2.

Sean Rooney and Reid Priddy led the American attack with 18 and 12 points respectively. More Spanish

TOYAMA, Japan, November 22, 2007.- NORCECA champions United States triumphed over powerhouses Bulgaria in an epic five-set match on Thursday at the men’s World Cup.

Team USA won an engrossing match over the wild-card Bulgarians 29-27, 20-25, 28-30, 25-22, 15-12 at Toyama City General Gymnasium to improve to 2-2 and inflict a first defeat on Bulgaria, who dropped to 3-1.

Riley Salmon led the Americans with 23 points, Ryan Miller added 15, Thomas Hoff and Clayton Stanley each contributed 12 tallies and Gabriel Gardner had 10. Matey Kaziyski and Vladimir Nikolov were the best Bulgarians with 26 and 23 points respectively.

World Cup holders and South American champions Brazil inflicted a straight-sets shellacking upon NORCECA vice champions Puerto Rico on Thursday in Pool B. The Olympic and world champion Brazilians won 25-13, 25-21, 25-17 to improve to 3-1, while Puerto Rico dropped to 2-2. More Spanish

MATSUMOTO, Japan, November 20, 2007 — Bulgaria maintained their perfect start to the men’s World Cup but were made to work hard for much of a four-set victory over Puerto Rico in Pool B on Tuesday.

Wild-card Bulgaria, third at the 2006 World Championships, downed the Norceca vice champions 19-25, 25-18, 27-25, 25-17 to improve to 3-0 and drop the Puerto Ricans to 2-1.

Puerto Rico beat United States for the first time in 30 years on Monday and looked a good bet at the start to complement this historical win, but hard-hitting Plamen Konstantinov and Most Important Player Matey Kaziyski planned otherwise as the Bulgarians dominated the latter stages.

Kaziyski scored 22 points, Konstantinov added 14 and Hristo Tsvetanov had 10. Hector Soto, José Rivera and Victor Rivera had 16, 14 and 10 points respectively for Puerto Rico. More Spanish

MATSUMOTO, Japan, November 19, 2007 — Puerto Rico beat the United States for the first time in 30 years on Monday  with a four-set victory in Pool B of the men’s World Cup to improve to 2-0.

The Puerto Ricans, who finished second to Team USA at the Norceca Championships, beat them 25-21, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22 at Matsumoto City General Gymnasium. United States, who shocked Brazil in straight sets in their first match, dropped to 1-1.

Once again, Hector Soto was the star of the show and was awarded with the Most Important Player for another spectacular showing. The last time Puerto Rico beat USA was at the 1977 Norceca Championships.

Soto enjoyed one spectacular performance scoring 29 points on 27 spikes and two blocks. Reid Priddy led USA with 16 points.

“I'm satisfied with today's match. We analyzed them and prepared for them,” said Carlos Cardona, the Puerto Rican coach. “They had a great win yesterday and so maybe had a little bit more pressure.  More Spanish

MATSUMOTO, Japan, November 18, 2007 –Norceca champions United States shocked World Cup holders and South American champions Brazil with a dazzling straight-sets win on Sunday in their Pool B opener.

The Brazilians, for good measure also world and Olympic champions and seemingly winning every competition they enter at the moment, hit a brick wall against a brilliant USA team who won 28-26, 30-28, 25-20 to silence swathes of yellow-clad Brazil fans at Matsumoto City General Gymnasium.

Reid Priddy was man of the match with 16 points, but he was ably supported by Riley Salmon (11) and Ryan Miller (11) at the net and the serving of Clayton Stanley (10).

Puerto Rico got off to a flyer at the men's World Cup with a straight sets victory over Egypt in their first game in Pool B in Matsumoto. More Spanish

NAGOYA, Japan, November 16, 2007.- Cubans Nancy Carrillo and Yanelis Santos were the best spiker and server respectively during the 2007 FIVB Women’s World Cup won by Italy with an unbeaten record in eleven outings. The Italian Simona Gioli was elected as the Most Valuable Player.

Polish Katarzyna Skowronska resulted in the best scorer of the competition, Helia “Fofao” Souza of Brazil was the best setter and Italian Paola Cardullo was the best libero.

Carrillo was positive in 52.53 per cent of her spiking attempts, followed by teammate Yumilka Ruiz (49.65) and American Tayyiba Haneef-Park (48.65). More Spanish

NAGOYA, Japan, November 16, 2007.- The Dominican Republic came from two sets down on Friday to overcome rivals Peru and claim their third win of the World Cup. The Dominicans won 23-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-10, 15-13.

Cosiri Rodríguez and Milagros Cabral topped the winners with 18 and 17 points respectively and Sidarka Nunez and Cindy Rondon added 14 and 12. Peruvians Milagros Moy and Patricia Soto had 19 and 16 respectively.

Meanwhile, Brazil completed the top-three teams secured of berths in the Olympics with a 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-18, 25-18) victory over Japan. More Spanish

NAGOYA, Japan, November 15, 2007 - From the school, the 16 years old girl, Elisa Eve was called suddenly to join the Dominican Republic Volleyball team in the 2007 Women’s World Cup in Japan.

Eve left her books and lessons to her best hobby, volleyball promising her teachers that she will come back more enthusiastic to study her lessons and continue her student life successfully. A girl of 15 or 16 years old has many attractive interests to do in her early life but Dominican Republic team brought players of this age to compete at the highest Volleyball level all over the world.  More Spanish

NAGOYA, Japan, November 15, 2007.- Italy and USA became the first two teams to qualify in the FIVB Women’s World Cup 2007 for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Italy booked a place in the Beijing Games by recording their 10th straight win in the World Cup, beating Cuba 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-16) to guarantee a top-three finish with one match to go. Cuba, the reigning NORCECA champions who have won the World Cup four times, dropped to 7-3.

Taismary Aguero and Antonella del Core each had 12 points for Italy and Nancy Carrillo and Yumilka Ruiz scored 12 and 10 respectively for Cuba.

The United States booked a place in the Olympics with a crushing defeat of Japan by score of 25-17, 25-14, 25-20 victory. This improved their record to 9-1, moving them ahead of Brazil (8-2) into second place behind Italy (10-0) and assured of a podium finish. Asian champions Japan dropped to 6-4.

Logan Tom and Tayyiba Haneef-Park each scored 13 points and Danielle Scott-Arruda and Kimberly Glass contributed 11 apiece and Heather Bown added 10. More Spanish

NAGOYA, Japan, November 14, 2007.- Yumilka Ruiz led six players in double-figures leading Cuba to a 3-1 (22-25, 31-29, 25-23, 25-20) victory over Japan while improving to a 7-2 mark at the 2007 World Cup with two matches remaining. USA suffered its first loss in the competition and Dominican Republic was crushed by Poland in straight sets.

Ruiz had 21 points, Kenia Carcaces and Rachel Sanchez contributed 18 points apiece, Nancy Carrillo added 16 and Yanelis Santos and Daimi Ramirez each had 12 points. Megumi Kurihara led Japan with 21 tallies.

Serbia improved to 7-2 record with a 28-26, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23 victory over USA that suffered its first loss and are now 8-1.

Jelena Nikolic and Jovana Brakocevic led Poland with 23 and 16 points. Logan Tom was the best American scorer with 23 points while Heather Bown, Danielle Scott-Arruda and Tayyiba Haneef-Park added 14, 12 and 11 respectively. More Spanish

KUMAMOTO, Japan, November 11, 2007 - The system of the World Cup requires highly physically fit players specially in the Women’s competition where the player should perform 11 matches in 15 days including the travel days between the Japanese cities, but for the Cuban star Yumika Ruiz no problem with that as she was the most prominent player in the competition to keep her performance steady all through the competition till now.

 Ruiz decided to devote her life to Volleyball. Even her study is also in the sports field as she is making researches in physical education specially in Volleyball field. The strong Cuban wing spiker is single because she wants to concentrate her life on her sports carrier before being involved more in her social life so she is keeping her concentration dedicated to Volleyball.

 From the technical point of view, Ruiz is considered the most important item in her coach’s strategy. Antonio Perdomo, using a different strategy than any other coach in the competition and playing with two setters, depends much on the ability of Ruiz to spike from both the front and backlines. More Spanish

TOKYO, November 11, 2007 –USA and Italy are still unbeaten after three rounds of the Women’s World Cup 2007. The fourth and final round will be played from Wednesday in Nagoya.

The United States continued their unbeaten run in the World Cup with a 3-0 victory over South Korea. The Americans won 25-21, 25-19, 25-23, with Logan Tom leading the scoring with 19 points. Danielle Scott-Arruda and Tayyiba Haneef-Park added 17 and 11 points respectively.

Brazil had no problems securing their seventh victory of the World Cup as they routed the Dominican Republic 25-16, 25-12, 25-14. The Dominicans dropped to 1-7.

Sheila Castro led the Brazilians with 18 points and Fabiana Claudino and Walewska Oliveira contributed 11 and 10 points. Dominican Bethania de la Cruz, the leading scorer after three rounds, was limited to 7 points. Cuba overcame the brave team of Thailand, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-13. Yumilka Ruiz led Cuba with 19 points, Nancy Carrillo added 15 and Daimi Ramirez and Yanelis Santos each had 12. More Spanish

KUMAMOTO, Japan, November 10, 2007 -- The United States continued their winning ways in the World Cup with a 3-1 victory over Thailand. The U.S. won the match 21-25, 25-19, 25-11, 25-13 to remain unbeaten in the tournament at 7-0.

Tayyiba Haneef-Park topped the American attack with 17 points. Four other USA players scored in double figures: Danielle Scott-Arruda (15), Logan Tom (14), Jennifer Joines (13) and Kimberly Glass (11).

In another match, Cuba had to battle hard to overcome the Dominican Republic at Kumamoto on Saturday, . More Spanish

KUMAMOTO, Japan, November 9, 2007.- Cuba survived their fourth five-set match of the World Cup to edge the ever-improving South Korea 25-20, 17-25, 19-25, 25-21, 15-10.

The Cubans won for third consecutive time relying on 18 and 17 points respectively by Yumilka Ruiz and Nancy Carrillo. Zoila Barros and Yanelis Santos each contributed 13 points and Rosir Calderon added 11.

Cuba improved its record to 4-2 while South Korea fell to a 2-4 mark.

Meanwhile, the United States rolled to a 6-0 tournament record by overcoming the Dominican Republic (1-5) three sets to one. The U.S. triumphed 25-16, 20-25, 25-16, 25-18. Logan Tom led USA with 18 points and Tayyiba Haneef-Park and Danielle Scott-Arruda had 13 and 11 respectively. Sidarka Nunez and Bethania de la Cruz topped the Dominicans with 18 and 17 respectively. More Spanish

SENDAI, Japan, November 7, 2007.- USA recovered from losing the first two sets and defeated Brazil 3-2 in a battle between unbeaten teams at the 2007 FIVB World Cup.

The 17-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-9 victory gave the USA Team a 5-0 record in the event where the top three teams will earn berths in the Beijing’s Olympic Games. Brazil has now a 4-1 record.

Tayyiba Haneef-Park led USA with 26 points and Logan Tom and Heather Bown added 12 and 11 points respectively. Brazilian Sheila Castro and Paula Pequeno had 21 and 19 respectively for Brazil. Also in Sendai, Cuba improved its record to 3-2 with a straight sets triumph over Peru (1-4) by score of 29-27, 25-19, 25-13.

Nancy Carrillo and Daimi Ramirez topped Cuba with 12 and 11 tallies respectively while Leyla Chichuan had 10 points for Peru. In Osaka, Serbia improved to 4-1 by downing Dominican Republic (1-4) in straight sets 25-22, 25-14, 25-23. More Spanish

SENDAI, Japan, November 6, 2007 -- Cuba survived a hard-fought battle with a 21-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13 victory over Poland at the FIVB World Cup 2007. Cuba evened its record at 2-2 and Poland dropped to 1-3.

Nancy Carrillo scored in 15 of 19 killing attempts and added five blocks and three aces to lead the Cuban win with 23 points. Yumilka Ruiz added 19 points and Daimi Ramirez and Kenia Carcaces had 13 and 10 respectively. Polish Malgorzta Glinka-Mogentale led all the scorers with 25 points.  More Spanish

TOKYO, Japan, November 4, 2007.- Dominican Bethania de la Cruz leads the scoring and blocking categories at the end of the first round of the FIVB 2007 World Cup.

Emerging as one of the best players of the Americas, the Dominican has scored 59 points en the first three matches when his side had a 1-2 win-loss mark. In the scoring category, she is followed by Japanese Megumi Kurihara and Cuban Yumilka Ruiz with 47 and 46 respectively.

De la Cruz is the best in blocking with 15 for an average of 1.36 by set, followed by Polish Maria Liktoras with 10 and average of 1.00 and Cuban Nancy Carrillo with 12 and balance of 0.92. Cuban Daimi Ramirez leads the attackers with an effectiveness percentage of 55.77, followed by Brazilian Jaqueline Carvalho and Italian Francesca Piccinini with 55.32 and 55.23 respectively. More Spanish

TOKYO, Japan, November 4, 2007.- Dominican Republic won their first match of the FIVB World Cup 2007, beating Thailand 3-2 on Sunday.

The Dominicans, playing as a wild card, took the first two sets and eventually won on their second match point. The score was 25-14, 25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 17-15, and improved their win-loss record to 1-2.

Bethania de la Cruz, emerging as one of the best players in the Americas, led all the scorers with 29 points. Other Dominicans in double-figures were Cindy Rondon, Milagros Cabral and Cosiri Rodriguez with 13, 12 and 11 points respectively.

Meanwhile, USA kept its perfect record in three outings by defeating Poland in four sets, and Cuba fell to 1-2 by losing to Brazil in a five-setter. More Spanish

HAMAMATSU, Japan, November 3, 2007.- USA edged Cuba 3-2 (20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 20-25, 15-11) in a battle between NORCECA teams at the 2007 Volleyball World Cup, the first qualifier to the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Tayyiba Haneef-Park and Logan Tom each scored 18 points leading five players in double figures as the American team improved its record to 2-0 while Cuba evened at 1-1 mark. Kimberly Glass had 12 points and Danielle Scott-Arruda and Heather Bown each contributed 11 tallies to the USA win.

Zoila Barros and Nancy Carrillo had 16 and 14 respectively for Cuba and Yumilka Ruiz and Yanelis Santos each scored 11 points. More Spanish

HAMAMATSU, Japan, November 2, 2007.- USA and Cuba obtained victories over Peru and Kenya respectively in their opening games of the 2007 World Cup. The Dominican Republic lost to host Japan.

The United States showed characteristic power as they moved past a game Peruvian team 25-23, 25-14, 25-19.

Logan Tom, who rejoined the team after several years away, led USA with 13 points, Heather Bown and Tayyiba Haneef-Park added 11 apiece and Danielle Scott-Arruda chipped in 10 tallies. Yulissa Zamudio was the only Peruvian in double figures with 11 points and Leyla Chihuan and Milagros Moy added 9 and 8 respectively.

Cuba had little difficulty in racking up a win overcoming the gallant Kenyans 25-11, 25-18, 25-20.

Veteran Yumilka Ruiz led Cuba with 15 points and Daimi Ramirez added 11. Nancy Carrillo, Zoila Barros and Kenia Karcaces each produced 8 points. Kenyan Dorcas Ndasaba had 9 points for the losers. More Spanish

ORANJESTAD, Aruba, October 28, 2007.- The Nineteenth NORCECA Congress concluded in the capital of Aruba as a complete success, stated Mr. Cristobal Marte, President of the institution before leaving towards Japan.

During the last day of the meeting, it was informed the confirmation of six stops for the upcoming NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit. Those hosting countries are Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and Netherlands Antilles. More Spanish

ORANJESTAD, Aruba, October 28, 2007.- Mexico was elected as the most outstanding National Federation of NORCECA during the past two years by organizing a total of seven events, including two world championships.

Mr. Cristobal Marte, President of NORCECA, presented a plaque to Professor Alejandro Salinas, President of the Mexican National Federation during the closing day of the Nineteenth NORCECA Congress held in the capital of Aruba.

The National Federations of Canada and Dominican Republic were also awarded for its contributions in organizing events in volleyball and beach volleyball at continental and intercontinental levels. More

ORANJESTAD, Aruba, October 27, 2007.- Jacques Joachim and Ramon Rico, two of the founders of the NORCECA Confederation, along with the late Raphael Hosein, were honoured during the opening session of the Nineteenth NORCECA Congress held in the capital of Aruba.

Mr. Cristobal Marte, President of NORCECA, presented Mr. Joachim of Haiti and Mr. Rico of Netherlands Antilles, with plaques as also to Mr. Mushtaque Mohammed who represented the Hosein family of Trinidad & Tobago.

Professor Alejandro Salinas, executive vice president of NORCECA, made important comments about the contributions made by these gentlemen to the Confederation and to volleyball in their respective countries. More Spanish

ORANJESTAD, Aruba, October 27, 2007.- The President of NORCECA presented the NORCECA Congress with a complete report of his activities during the past two years.

Mr. Cristobal Marte informed the assembly about every competition in both genders held at the different levels by the Confederation, including also a report on the two Youth World Championships in Baja California, Mexico in 2007.

He also reported on the participation and results of teams from NORCECA at the 2007 World Championships and at the World League and World Grand Prix in 2006-07.

Mr. Marte reported about his participation in the annual meetings of NORCECA,  More Spanish

ORANJESTAD, Aruba, October 27, 2007.- The President of FIVB sent a message of solidarity to all delegates gathered together on the occasion of the XIX NORCECA Congress in the capital of Aruba.

Dr. Ruben Acosta Hernandez praised the achievements attained by NORCECA in recent years both in terms of sport as also in organization and observance of its obligations and responsibilities.

The leader of the volleyball and beach volleyball governing body considered all the delegates as “good will ambassadors and devoted people who dedicate their time to elevate the sport to its current position as one of the top disciplines in the planet.” More Spanish

ORANJESTAD, Aruba, October 27, 2007.- The Governor of Aruba and the principal public and private sports authorities of Aruba attended the opening session of the XIX NORCECA Congress.

His excellency Fredis Refunjol is a former volleyball player who represented the Netherlands Antilles in the NORCECA Championship of 1972 in Havana, Cuba.

“Is a great honour for us to host this congress that benefits the sport activity of volleyball and beach volleyball  More Spanish

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, October 23, 2007.- Costa Rica continues to maintain its dominance of volleyball in the region by winning the XII Junior Women’s Central American Championship that finished last Saturday in Managua.

The Costa Ricans won over Nicaragua in straight sets 25-17, 25-16, 25-9 in the last match of the event finishing with an unbeaten record, edging runner-up Guatemala and third placed Nicaragua.

In the first match of the closing day at University of Managua Gymnasium,  More Spanish

HAVANA, Cuba, October 15, 2007.- The two more important women pairs of Cuba are in the process of preparation aiming to a good finish during the last series of the Beach Volleyball World Tour in Thailand from October 31 to November 4.

Tamara Larrea-Dalixia Fernández and Milagros Crespo-Imada Estévez are placed among the top 12 of the Olympic ranking after 13 and 14 participations respectively, of the 17 phases composing the premier competition of Beach Volleyball, including the world championship.

Even though Tamara felt some recurrence of an old shoulder injury during the last competition in Brazil,  More Spanish

JOLLY HARBOUR, Antigua, October 15, 2007.- In sweltering heat and blistering sunshine the 2007 edition of the Sizzlin Sand Beach Volleyball Caribbean SUNSPLASH Series spiked off October 6-7 at Jolly Harbour Antigua with a bang.

With $ 5,000 USD in prize money at stake sixteen teams representing Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and host country Antigua converged on Castaways Beach and provided fans with two pulsating days of top class beach volleyball. More Spanish

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, October 10, 2007.- USA Volleyball released its men’s and women’s preliminary 19-player rosters for the upcoming FIVB World Cups to be played in various cities in Japan. The rosters, which will be trimmed to the maximum 12 players prior to the World Cups, are dominated by players with international experience.

The women’s event will be held on November 2-16 while the men’s competition will be on November 18-December 2. The Top three teams in each competition automatically become the first qualified, along with host China, to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The men’s roster includes ten players with Olympic experience while the women’s squad had nine members with previous participation in the summer games.

Included in the men’s team are Olympians: Lloy Ball, Donald Suxho, Brook Billings, Phil Eatherton, Gabe Gardner, Tom Hoff, Ryan Millar, Reid Priddy, Riley Salmon and Clay Stanley. More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, October 8, 2007.- The XIX NORCECA Congress will take place in Oranjestad, Aruba on October 27-28 and thirty-two of the 35 National Federations affiliated to the institution have already confirmed its participation.

The Congress will be dedicated to the honour of Mr. Jacques Joachim of Haiti, Mr. Ramon Rico of Netherlands Antilles and the late Mr. Rafael Hosein of Trinidad & Tobago.

The secretariat of NORCECA released on Monday the agenda for the two-day meeting at the Radisson Aruba Hotel & Casino and the opening session include the participation of the highest sports authorities of the country.

Mr.Celestino Lesire, President of the Aruba Volleyball Association, Mr. Leoncio Johan Maduro,   More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, October 8, 2007.- USA meets Brazil and Puerto Rico plays against Egypt on November 18 at Matsumoto during the first day of action of the Men’s FIVB Volleyball World Cup to be held in several cities of Japan.

The schedule of the 12- team event was released by FIVB. Each team play all 11 other teams in a round-robin format in four different stages concluding on December 2 at Tokyo.

In addition to USA and Puerto Rico as representatives of NORCECA, the tournament field includes host Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Russia, Bulgaria and Korea. More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, October 5, 2007.- The NORCECA Confederation has started all the necessary coordination in order to ensure the participation of all its 35 National Federations in the next FIVB World Congress to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in June 2008.

Mr. Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, President of the continental institution, said that as same as occurred in the 2006 Congress held in Tokyo, NORCECA will be present in Dubai with a 100 percent of attendance. More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, October 5, 2007.- Four countries from the NORCECA Confederation are ranked among the Top-16 of the world in women’s volleyball.

USA, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico have attained that privileged position as a result of their respective programs of development at different levels of age.

The ranking is based on the points obtained in senior, junior and youth categories during the world and continental competitions of the past two years according to the FIVB World Ranking system.

USA occupies the sixth position of the world with a total of 248.5 points, Cuba is ninth with 149, Dominican Republic sits on the tenth place with 145.5 and Puerto Rico is in fourteenth place with 111 points.

“It tells you a lot about the progress of volleyball within NORCECA,” said Mr. Cristobal Marte, president of the Continental Confederation. More Spanish

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, October 4, 2007.-  Dominican Republic plays against host Japan on November 2 at Tokyo, while USA and Cuba go against Peru and Kenia the same day at Hamamatsu in the first day of action of the FIVB Volleyball World Cup.

The schedule of the 12- team event was released by FIVB. Each team play all 11 other teams in a round-robin format in four different stages concluding on November 16 at Nagoya. More Spanish

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, October 2, 2007.- The FIVB released today the list of the 12 Women’s teams competing for the FIVB Volleyball World Cup 2007, the first of three Olympic qualification steps for Beijing 2008.

The FIVB and the organizers (Japanese Volleyball Association and Fuji Television) have decided today to assign the two wild cards to Poland and the Dominican Republic.

Many aspects were considered for this choice, like the increasing level of Volleyball development in these countries and the good position in their Continental Championships. More Spanish

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 22, 2007.- Cuba edged USA in a gruelling five-setter by scores of 22-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-23, 18-16  to win the gold medal match at the  NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship.

Based on reaching the NORCECA championship match, both Cuba and Team USA claimed berths into the FIVB World Cup held Nov. 2-16 in Japan.

Rosir Calderon pocketed 22 points to lead Cuba. Nancy Carillo, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and top spiker, tallied 20 points for Cuba. Daimi Ramirez added 19 points, while Yumilka Ruiz collected 13 points.

Heather Bown led USA with 22 points, Ogona Nnamani added 19, Danielle Scott-Arruda contributed 17 and Jennifer Joines tallied 15 points. More Spanish P-2 form

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 22, 2007.- A hard hitting Dominican team came out firing in today’s Bronze Medal Final at the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship, edging Canada in an emotional five setter by a score of 3-2.  Set scores were 25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13 in favour of the Dominican Republic.

Bethania de la Cruz and Cosiri Rodriguez led the Dominican victory with 23 and 21 points respectively, Milagros Cabral added 12 and Elina Eve and Cindy Rondon each contributed 11 tallies. Tiffany Dodds led Canada with 19 points, Emely Cordonier had  13 and Stacey Gordon and Tasha Holnes scored 10 points apiece.

“I knew it was going to be a very hard match playing Canada in Canada, especially with the young and inexperienced players we have in our roster” said Miguel Beato Cruz, Head Coach of Dominican Republic. “Now we will return home and train with our senior players who are returning from injuries and arrive in December in Mexico with a strong and compact team.”More Spanish P-2 form

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 22, 2007.- While Mexico has reached their goal of playing for 5 at this event, Puerto Rico believe they have fallen short. However, they know that they must regroup and focus on the task at hand. They must put disappointment aside and come out to play against this feisty Mexican team who will be more than willing to take advantage of the situation.

Both teams displayed that they were here to fight. Puerto Rico held a 2-point advantage up 8-6 at the first break in play and was able to build of that to lead 16-10 by the second time out. Mexico seemed uninterested in fighting so the result was a 25-16 Puerto Rico victory.

Neither team came out all the inspired in the second set. Mexico seemed to show the will only will to win and was rewarded with an 8-7 lead at the first time out. A talk from their coach and Puerto Rico came back out with a little more fight taking over the lead at 11-10. SO the battle had finally begun. Puerto Rico opened up a 14-12 lead and Mexico would tie it at 14-14 and at the second break in play, Mexico had regained the lead 16-15. Puerto Rico was not done yet, they would fight back to take the lead back at 18-16. More P-2 form

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 22, 2007.- This is always a difficult match for these teams. After a long week of volleyball it comes down to one last game. While there may not seem like much is on the line, in fact there is a great deal of pride, and both these teams are developing and would like to leave this event knowing that they finished strong.

Set one was closely contested with Trinidad and Tobago opening an 8-7 lead at the firs time out. The set would remain tied up at 14-14 when Costa Rica opened took the only 2-point lead of the set up 16-14 at the second official time out. Costa Rica fed off this widening the gap taking a 22-17 lead on their way to an eventual 25-19 set one victory.

Costa Rica seemed to find their stride in the second set jumping out to an 8-5 lead at the first break in play. The Costa Ricans continued to march on adding to their point total to lead 16-10 at the halfway point in the set. Trinidad continued to fight to get back in the set but they could not overcome the Costa Rican lead, which won the set 25-20. More  P-2 form

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 21, 2007.- The USA Women’s National Volleyball secured a spot in the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship gold medal match by defeating tournament host Canada 25-18, 25-11, 25-23 in the semi final round on Friday evening at Winnipeg, Canada.

Ogonna Nnamani tallied a match-high 18 points, Danielle Scott-Arruda chipped in 13 points and Cassie Busse totaled 10 points. Stacey Gordon led Canada with 11 points and Tasha Holness added eight points in the loss.

Team USA, the three-time defending NORCECA champion, will face Cuba in the gold medal match on Saturday. At the last NORCECA Championship tournament held in 2005 at Trinidad & Tobago, Team USA defeated Cuba with a five-set victory. Cuba has won the tournament a record 12 times in the 19 previous editions.

The NORCECA Continental Championship will not only crown the top team among North American, Central American and Caribbean nations, it will qualify two teams into the FIVB World Cup held Nov. 2-16 in Japan.  More 

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 21, 2007.- This will no doubt be an emotional match. Cuba has shown so far that they are composed and here to win, however, the Dominican Republic believe that they at a point in their development that they rightfully belong in the mix with top teams such as Cuba and the USA. With that in mind, they enter tonight’s match with the confidence that they can defeat Cuba and take that next step towards Olympic qualification.

Both teams came out in set one with the artillery firing, exchanging high-flying kills. Cuba held the advantage at the first break in play by a score of 8-6. By the second break, Cuba had increased their lead off some great blocking to 16-12. The Dominican’s would ultimately give the set away as a result of a number of unforced errors losing 25-15.

Set two Cuba started where they left off leading 8-7 lead at the first time out. Cuba remained on top to the mid-way point leading 16-11. The Dominican’s didn’t seem to have a solution for Cuba in this set as they marched on to take set to by a score of 25-19.  More  P-2 form

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 21, 2007.- While there is certainly some lingering disappointment by Puerto Rico, they know that the need to come into this match prepared and ready to get back on track. Every match at this event has significance, and while Puerto Rico would still like to finish in 5, Trinidad & Tobago have their own goals and objectives to reach in this match and tomorrows.

This was somewhat of an unfair match up. Puerto Rico immediately showed their dominance jumping to a 5-0 lead and up 8-2 at the time out. Trinidad was never really in contention after that as Puerto Rico took set one 25-11. More  P-2 form

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 21, 2007.- This match will likely go to the wire. Both teams believe they are capable of wining this match and finishing this event in 5 or 6 position. They are very similar teams with respect to their current situation. Both teams are boasting young players and are is a re-building stage of their respective programs. A strong finish at this event would go a long way for either of these teams.

It was evident early on that Costa Rica was here to play as they took a demanding 6-0 lead in the opening set. Mexico has gotten a couple on the board by the first technical time out but continued to trail 8-2. Mexico slowly began creeping their way back into the set, however, thy still trailed 16-10 by the mid-way point of the set. Capitalizing on some Costa Rican unforced errors, Mexico would come within two, More  P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 21, 2007.- Upstart Puerto Rico put up a fight, but the U.S. National Volleyball Team took a 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23) victory to win the gold medal at the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

The U.S. Men finish the tournament with a 5-0 record. Puerto Rico wins the silver medal with a 4-2 record with two losses to Team USA.

With the victory, the U.S. claims an automatic berth into the FIVB World Cup held November 18-December 2 in Japan.  More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 21, 2007.- The Cuban National Volleyball Team came back from Thursday’s difficult semifinal loss to Puerto Rico to defeat Canada 3-0 (38-36, 25-21, 25-22) on Friday to win the bronze medal at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Cuba finishes the tournament with a 5-1 record. Canada finishes at 3-3 with two losses to Cuba and one to the United States.

Cuba’s Raydel Corrales led all scorers with 20 points, Oreol Camejo scored 14 points, Rolando Jurquin added 12, Odelvis Dominico Speek tallied 10 points and Robertlandy Simon chipped in 9 points.  More Spanish P-2 form

Dominican Republic Blanks Barbados for Fifth Place

ANAHEIM, California, September 21, 2007.- The Dominican Republic National Volleyball Team had little trouble defeating Barbados 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-16) for a fifth-place finish at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

The Dominican Republic finishes the tournament with a 3-3 record. Barbados finishes sixth with a 1-4 record.

The Dominican Republic’s Elvis Daverson Contreras led all scorers with 16 points, Victor Batista scored 11 points and Eduardo Concepcion added seven points.

Barbados was paced by team captain Elwyn Oxley with 11 points, and Jamal Nedd and Darran Gill each scored five points.

More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 21, 2007.- A young and undermanned Mexican National Volleyball Team closed out its time at the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 27-25) victory over Trinidad & Tobago good for seventh place on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Mexico finishes the tournament with a 2-4 record. Trinidad & Tobago finishes 0-6.

Edgar Herrera led Mexico with 13 points, Tomas Aguilera added 12, Francisco Enriquez scored 9 tallies and Mario Becerra scored 8 points.

Trinidad & Tobago’s Nolan Tash led all scorers with 15 points. Kevin Nimrod added 14 and Christian Francois contributed six points. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 20, 2007.- The USA Men's National Team made good on several late set rallies to defeat Canada 32-30, 19-25, 25-19, 26-24 in the semi finals of the NORCECA Men's Continental Championship on Thursday evening to reach the gold-medal match against Puerto Rico set for Friday.

Meanwhile, Canada will play Cuba for third place preceding the NORCECA championship match.

Reid Priddy paced five USA scorers in double figures with 18 points. Clay Stanley and Ryan Millar each totalled 15 points, and Riley Salmon and Gabe Gardner contributed 10 points apiece.

Canada's Dallas Soonias led all scorers in the match with 24 points. Fred Winters charted 14 points and Murray Grapentine contributed 10 Canadian points.

The USA is the two-time defending NORCECA champions and has reached the title match the last eight times of the bi-annual event. Overall, Team USA has won the title six times (1973, 1983, 1985, 1999, 2003, 2005) and earned silver eight times. Puerto Rico has never won a medal at the NORCECA event, let alone reaching the title match. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 20, 2007.- Showing patience and determination, a jubilant Puerto Rico qualified for a berth at the FIVB World Cup with a 3-2 (26-24, 11-25, 22-25, 26-24, 15-11) victory over favored Cuba on Thursday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

 
Puerto Rico, which has never won a medal at the NORCECA Men's Continental Championship, will face the winner of the semifinal match between the United States and Canada in the title match on Friday. Cuba, which had won 13 of 19 NORCECA Men's Continental Championships, will face the loser of the United States and Canada in the bronze-medal match.

Hector Soto led Puerto Rico with 28 points, all coming from 28 kills. Enrique Escalante added 13 points, and Jose Rivera and Victor Rivera each charted 11 points in the victory.

Rolando Jurquin Despaigne sparked Cuba with a match-high 29 points. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, 20 de septiembre, 2007.- - Winning its first match of the 2007 NORCECA Men's Continental Championship, Barbados pulled out a five-set victory over Mexico (25-23, 22-25, 19-25, 25-18, 17-15) on Thursday to advance to the fifth-place match at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena..

Barbados will play Dominican Republic on Friday for fifth place in the tournament. With the loss, Mexico will play for seventh place against Trinidad & Tobago.

Barbados team captain Elwyn Oxley led all scorers with a tournament-high 32 points, Renier Grace added 16 and Jamal Nedd contributed 12 points. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 20, 2007.- Dominican Republic defeated Trinidad & Tobago for the second time in 48 hours with a 21-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-19 victory during NORCECA Men's Continental Championship action Thursday afternoon in the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. Dominican Republic secured a three-set victory over the same team to conclude pool play on Tuesday.

Dominican Republic moves into the fifth-place match scheduled for Friday. It will play the winner of today's Mexico-Barbados match. With the loss, Trinidad & Tobago will play for seventh place against the loser Mexico-Barbados.

Jose Caceres highlighted the Dominican Republic offense with 16 points, Elvis Contreras turned in 13 points, while Victor Batista contributed 11 tallies. Nolan Tash scored a match-high 20 points to lead Trinidad & Tobago.

José Cáceres encabezó la ofensiva de República Dominicana con 16 puntos, Elvis Contreras ligó 13 puntos mientras Víctor Batista contribuyó con 11 tantos. Nolan Tash fue el máximo anotador del choque con 20 puntos para liderar a Trinidad & Tobago. More Spanish P-2 form

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 20, 2007.- The Canadian Women recovered from a slow start and routed Mexico 3-0 in their quarterfinal match up at the NORCECA Championship. Set scores were 25-17, 25-10, 25-16.

Tammy Mahon, Stacey Gordon and Tasha Holness all contributed equally, fronting the Canadian attack with 10 points apiece in the contest.  Emily Cordonier ended off the match with 9 points of her own, including 3 service aces.

Canada’s quest for a medal is still alive as their victory this evening advances them to the Semi-Finals tomorrow where they will find themselves across the court from neighbouring USA.  The first Semi-Final of the day sees a mighty Cuban squad face off with Dominican Republic.
 
"This was a very important game for us. We worked very hard to get to this point. Our goal in this tournament was to make it to the top four and we have accomplished that." Stated Canada’s Captain Emily Cordonier.  "I think Mexico came out very strong, I give them credit, they never stopped swinging and challenging our block.” More Spanish P-2 form

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 20, 2007.- Bethania de la Cruz and Cosiri Rodriguez each scored 22 points leading the Dominican Republic to a 25-22, 25-22, 25-15 victory over Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals of the 2007 NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship.

The victory enables the Dominican Republic to advance to a semi final match against Cuba on Friday.

Milagros Cabral contributed 9 points to the Dominican victory while Sheila Ocasio led Puerto Rico with 9 tallies and Eva Cruz and Dariam Acevedo had 8 points apiece.

It was a tough battle for the first two sets between the two Caribbean rivals, but in the third set, the Dominicans took an early lead and never looked back.

“The key to this win was our serve and our attack,” said Miguel Beato Cruz, the Dominican coach. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 19, 2007.- Canada made quick work of Mexico on Wednesday to set up a meeting with another North American power.

Canada defeated Mexico 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-21) in the quarterfinals of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Qualifier and will advance to Thursday’s semi finals where it will play the United States.

Mexico will have a rematch against Barbados in classification round 5. The two played in pool play and Mexico won 3-1.

The top two finishers at the NORCECA Continental Championship will qualify for the 2007 FIVB World Cup (Nov. 18-Dec. 2) in Japan. The top three finishers at the World Cup qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Canada gave some of its usual starters a rest and saw Gavin Schmitt lead all scorers with 15 points. Louis-Pierre Mainville added 14 points, and Bernier Christian scored nine points. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 19, 2007.- Puerto Rico’s power and experience won out as it defeated the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-15) on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

 
Puerto Rico advances to the semi finals on Thursday where it will play Pool B winner Cuba. The Dominican Republic will play Trinidad & Tobago in classification round 5.

Puerto Rico team captain Hector Soto led all scorers with 17 points, Victor Rivera added 11 points and Jose Rivera scored nine points.

“Normally we have tougher matches with the Dominican Republic,” Soto said. “I thought we did well with our blocking. We didn’t get a lot of blocks but we got a lot of touches.”

“Everything was very bad,” Dominican Republic coach Jacinto Campechano said through an interpreter. “What do you want me to say?”More Spanish P-2 form

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 19, 2007.- As the three-time defending NORCECA Women’s Continental Champion, the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team moved one step closer to a fourth consecutive title by defeating Dominican Republic 25-20, 25-18, 25-22 on Wednesday evening on the final day of pool play at the 2007 NORCECA event in Winnipeg, Canada.

Team USA, as the winner of Pool B with a 3-0 record, advances directly to the tournament’s semifinal round on Friday. The time and opponent will be determined after Thursday’s quarterfinal matches. Dominican Republic finishes Pool B with a 2-1 record and will face Puerto Rico (1-2 in Pool A) in the quarterfinal round. More P-2 form

Canada, September 19-2007. A match that looked promising in the beginning for Team Canada, slowly fizzled as the Canadians were downed by Cuba in straight sets 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-10).

The world ranked fifth, Cubans progressively got better throughout the game and eventually overpowered the Canadians in front of another packed home crowd at the Investor Group Athletic Centre.

Cuba was lead in scoring by Yanelis Santos Allegne with 13 points (8 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces). Tiffany Dodds had another strong outing at the Women’s NORCECA Championship, leading Canada in scoring for the second time in the tournament with 9 points (5 kills, 3 blocks, 1 ace).

"We were expecting and believing that we could win, but we didn’t show it on the court," said Dodds. "We just couldn’t get into our blocking rhythm tonight. Where ever we put a solid block, they hit around it." More

Canada, September 19-2007. This was going to be a good test for Puerto Rico after a long fight with Canada the night before and a difficult loss that was evident on the players faces. Costa Rica had nothing to lose and could come out and play a relaxed game.

The first few points of the first set indicated that this contest might be closer than many would have thought, but a 4-4, Puerto Rico started to take control and would lead 8-4 at the first time out. That point gap would remain intact to the second time out with Puerto Rico remaining in front by a score of 16-12, and would not differ any as the result was a Puerto Rico 25-16 win.

Puerto Rico continued to dominate starting the second set with an 8-3 lead at the first time out. They would continue to lead 16-9 at the second time out and cruised to a 25-13 second set victory.

It was again Puerto Rico who took the early advantage at the first time out leading 8-5.  More P-2 form

Canada, 19 de septiembre, 2007.Today’s match had more meaning to Mexico who was looking to secure a spot in tomorrow’s quarterfinals. For Trinidad and Tobago it was an opportunity to improve and gain the experience that they came here for, and prepare for their classification match against Costa Rica.

Mexico set the pace of the first set leading 8-2 and 16-9 at the technical time outs. However Trinidad and Tobago battled back to within two down 16-18 in the late stages of the set. But Mexico responded to the challenge and pulled away to a 25-22 victory.

Set two was a much tighter match-up to start with Mexico holding an 8-5 lead at the first time out. They would maintain their lead up 16-9 at the second time out. That seemed to be the way the rest of the set would finish, as there was no real change in the play of either team with Mexico winning 25-16.

The third set witnessed an inspired Trinidadian team as they jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead. Mexico picked away at the lead but remained down by one with Trinidad & Tobago leading 8-7 at the first time out.  More P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 18, 2007. – Puerto Rico provided the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team with its greatest challenge of the tournament, but Team USA ended up with a 3-0 (25-19, 27-25, 25-18) victory on Tuesday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship Center Arena before an estimated crowd of 725.

The U.S. Men (3-0) complete pool play without dropping a set to win Pool A. They will have Wednesday off and play the winner of the match between Mexico and Canada on Thursday.

Puerto Rico (2-1) finishes second in Pool A and will face the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Reid Priddy led the USA Men with 19 points on 16 kills, one block and two aces. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 18, 2007. – A young Mexican team that brought only 10 players to the tournament picked up its first victory at the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on the final day of  pool play on Tuesday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Mexico defeated Barbados 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 18-25, 25-22) to improve its record to 1-2 and finish third in Pool A. Barbados (0-3) places fourth. Mexico will face Canada in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Barbados will have Wednesday off and then play the loser of the match between Mexico and Canada on Thursday.

Mexico’s Francisco Enriquez led all scorers with 23 points on 19 kills, three aces and one block.  More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 18, 2007. – In a battle of undefeated teams, Cuba came out on top, defeating Canada 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18) on the final day of pool play at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Tuesday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Cuba wins Pool B with a 3-0 record and will take Wednesday off for the quarterfinals and come back to play in the semifinals on Thursday. Canada will next play the third-place finisher in Pool A.

Rolando Jurquin Despaigne and Robertlandy Simon Aties led Cuba with 15 points each. Jurquin Despaigne had 13 points on kills, one block and one ace. Simon Aties had nine kills, five blocks and one ace. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 18, 2007. – The Dominican Republic overcame Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-16) on the final day of pool play on Tuesday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Trinidad & Tobago finishes four in Pool B at 0-3 and will take Wednesday off to find out who it will play Thursday in the classification round 5. The Dominican Republic finishes third in Pool B at 1-2 and will play the second-place team from Pool A on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Trinidad & Tobago’s offense struggled and the Dominican scored 27 points on errors while only giving up 15.

The Dominican Republic’s Elvis Daverson Contreras led his team with 13 points on 11 kills, one block and one ace. More Spanish P-2 form

Canada, September 18, 2007. Today’s game was looking like it would be the battle of the day. These two teams both needed this win to ensure an opportunity at a semi-final and for Canada, a chance to play Cuba for top spot in Pool B.

The first set certainly didn’t disappoint. It was full of incredible action right from the first whistle. Puerto Rico maintained a lead in the early parts of the match, up 8-7 and 16-14 at the two technical time outs. But it was Canada that rallied in the end. They out scored Puerto Rico to gain the lead 20-17 then took over at the net with the ‘Great Canadian Wall’ and literally blocked their way to a first set victory 25-20.

Still buzzing from the first set, the Canadian crowd cheered the Canadian team on.  More P-2 form

Canada, September 18, 2007. This match can be described as a modern day David and Goliath. While anything can happen on the court, it will take some exceptional play for Costa Rica to topple Cuba. Cuba, a world class program that has produced a team that is respected as one of the best in the world, while Costa Rica, who has been improving drastically over the past few years is still not at the same competitive level as Cuba.

Cuba stormed out to a 5-0 in the first set, but Costa Rica reduced the deficit to 8-5 at the first time out. Cuba picked up their game to lead 16-10 at the second technical time out and forced a Costa Rican time out when they added 2 more to lead 18-10. There was no looking back for Cuba at that point as they took set one 25-14.

Cuba seemed to be able to attack at will in set two. Costa Rica was putting up a valiant fight, but Cuba was just to strong leading 8-2 and 16-6 at the technical time outs. Costa Rica could not seem to find a solution for the huge Cuban block and tough serves and was defeated in set two by a score of 25-8. More P-2 form

Canada, September 18, 2007, While Mexico has come to this event with a young team, in the early phases of rebuilding, they came into this match looking to learn from the USA and to execute their game plan and prepare their team for the upcoming NORCECA Olympic qualifier in Mexico in December. The USA, while suffering from a number of injuries to key players is still a powerhouse and is looking to be in the final of this event, securing them a shot at an Olympic berth.

The USA was all business in the first set. They literally smothered the Mexican team with blocks and over powered them with their attack. The USA was leading by insurmountable scores of 8-1 and 16-4 at the technical time outs and finished the set with a 25-6 victory.

Mexico came out with a little more fight in the second set, however the USA maintained the rhyme they had from the first set to lead 8-6 at the first time out. Mexico would fight to stay in the set forcing the USA to time out down only 10-12.  More P-2 form

Canada, September 18, 2007, Today’s game was going to see two teams, one that is a team that is quickly emerging as a world power and another emerging onto the international volleyball scene. Despite the lopsided competition, both teams would come out of the match having gained experience or furthering their opportunity to qualify for the Olympics.

It was clearing the first set that the Dominican Republic was conserving energy and doing only what was need to win. This is not to say they were not respecting their worthy opponent. The Dominican’s led for the entire set up 8-3 and 16-10 at the technical time outs and easily cruised on to an opening set victory of 25-13.

Sets 2 and 3 were much of the same. The power and experience of the Dominican team was just too much for Trinidad and Tobago. But despite the scores, you could see the improvement and the passion on the Trinidadians faces.  More

September17,2007,It was going to be a fitting end to a great opening day of volleyball at the 2007 NORCECA Continental Championships. After 3 great matches, perhaps the best showdown of the evening was going to be Cuba vs. Puerto Rico, with two to great teams both looking to come out of the pool play on top.

As expected, the teams did not disappoint the crowd. They came out flying and exchanging powerful spikes and incredible digs. Puerto Rico took the first lead up 8-6 at the first time out, however Cuba reversed that by the second time out to lead by one up 16-15. The Cubans took advantage of some sloppy play late in the set by Puerto Rico to increase their lead and take the first set 25-22.

Set two was another tight affair with Cuba taking a narrow 8-7 lead at the first time out. Not much would change as Cuba continued to hold the advantage up 16-14. Neither team was prepared to give up much but Puerto Rico was able to find a little space in the Cuba court to tie the set at 19-19.  More P-2 form

Canada, September 17, 2007, As expected this was going to be a well-fought battle between these two teams. Mexico a team looking to work their way back into the international ranks while the Dominican have established themselves as a top ranked team, however, have suffered this season with injuries and are here with a mixed team of experience and youth.

It was a tight race right from the first whistle with the Dominican Republic holding a narrow 16-13 lead at the second technical time out. They would further that lead thanks to the powerful attack of their team Captain Cosiri Rodriguez. It was enough to take the first set 25-17.

The Dominican used the momentum in set one opening an 8-5 lead, but Mexico responded to tie the set 10 and then go up buy one to lead 16-15 at the second technical time out. The Dominican had an immediate response as they quickly went up 21-17 forcing a Mexican time out.  More P-2 form

Canada, September 17, 2007,It has been some time since the Canadian women’s team has hosted an event of this caliber and they are prepared to put it all on the line in front of their hometown crowd. While the Canadian’s are on an upswing with the rebuilding of their program, they will need to take this Costa Rican team seriously as they too are making waves in the NORCECA volleyball community.

The Canadians took advantage of the hometown momentum right out of the gates opening a 2-point lead and then up by 4 points 16-12 by the second technical time out.   More P-2 form

Canada, September 17, 2007, It was going to be the battle of their lives for this young Trinidad and Tobago team as they opened the event against three-time Champions USA. They came to this event for the experience, and there is no better way to get than to play the best.

The USA showed their dominance right from the start of the match quickly opening up an insurmountable 16-6 lead by the second technical time-out. Trinidad showed some fight but the USA remained strong taking the first set 25-9.  More P-2 form

ANAHEIM, Calif. (Sept. 17, 2007) -Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.) set the U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team to .684 team attack percentage (43 kills, 4 errors, 57 attacks) as the Americans blitzed Barbados 25-13, 25-13, 25-4 on the second of three days of pool play at the NORCECA Men's Continental Championship Monday evening at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. 

The U.S. improves to 2-0, while Barbados falls to 0-2. Team USA squares off against undefeated Puerto Rico on Tuesday at 8 p.m. PT for the top seed out of Pool A. The winner earns a quarterfinal bye, an off-day on Wednesday and a direct spot into the semifinals on Thursday. Barbados takes on Mexico (0-2) at 5 p.m. PT on Tuesday to conclude pool play. 

Team USA's David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) lead all scorers with 12 points via six kills on seven errorless attacks and six blocks. More P-2 form

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Canadian Men’s National Team had little trouble dispatching Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-10) on Monday on the second day of the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Canada improved to 2-0 in Pool B. Trinidad & Tobago falls to 0-2.

Team Canada used all but one of its players as Head Coach Glenn Hoag used the match to work on his team’s offensive weaknesses. Everyone who played scored at least one point.

Dallas Soonias led Canada with 10 points on seven kills and three aces. More P-2 form

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Hector Soto scored 15 points for Puerto Rico and Victor Rivera added 13 as the Puerto Rican Men’s National Volleyball Team overcame a young and undermanned Mexican team 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-20) on Monday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Hilton.

Puerto Rico improves to 2-0 in Pool A. It will face the United States (1-0) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Mexico falls to 0-2 and will play Barbados (0-1) at 5:30 p.m.

Puerto Rican Coach Carlos Cardona said he congratulated his team following the match and said the team had made the adjustments they had talked about after Sunday’s match against Barbados. More P-2 form

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Cuba's Men's National Volleyball Team continued its reign over Pool A on Monday with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-17) defeat of the Dominican Republic on the second day of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Cuba improves to 2-0 and is tied with Canada atop the pool. The two teams will square off on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. PDT. The Dominican Republic falls to 0-2 and will play Trinidad & Tobago at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Cuba’s height had its advantages as it dominated the blocking battle 16-3. Cuba’s Raydel Hierrezuelo Aguirre had five scoring blocks on six attempts. Rolando Jurquin Despaigne had four out of six and Oreol Camejo Durruthy converted three of four. More P-2 form

September 17-2007, Canada. Canada got off to a smashing start to begin the 2007 Women’s NORCECA Championships, routing Costa Rica in straight sets 3-0.

The home-team Canadians, ranked 27 in the world, needed only an hour and seven minutes to dispatch the 23-ranked Costa Ricans in front of over 1,000 fans at the Investors Group Athletic Centre in Winnipeg  More