In their second match of the 2003 NORCECA Zone Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the Dominican national women’s team, ranked 14th in the world, defeated the Canadian team, ranked 20th. The Canadian women got off to a strong start in the first set with a score of 27-25, but fell to the 2003 Pan American Games gold medalists in subsequent sets of 17-25, 21-25 and 20-25.
The 2003 NORCECA Olympic Qualifier, which runs from 15-21 December, represents a chance for the Dominican women’s team to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Only the winning team will gain a berth in next year’s Olympic Games, where the next highest world-ranked NORCECA Team not yet qualified will have a second opportunity to compete in the South American Olympic Qualifying tournament scheduled for the first week of January 2004 in Puerto Rico. Only the US women’s team has already been assured a spot for the region in the 2004 Olympics. For more news and scores on the tournament, see http://www.fivb.ch