The Dominican national volleyball team, ranked seventh in the world, is playing in the Norceca Volleyball Women’s Continental Championship from 27 September to 5 October with the opening game in Michoacan, Mexico. The winner gets a ticket to play in the 12-team Rio Olympics Volleyball tournament.
The DR defeated Puerto Rico on Sunday, 27 September in a tough match – 3-2 (25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 20-25, 15-13).
The DR has won the Norceca tournament only once, in 2009. The USA team is the defending champion with wins in the previous 2013 tournament and in the 2011 tournament.
The USA will play in Pool A against Canada, Cuba and Costa Rica. The DR is in Pool B with preliminary round games against Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Trinidad & Tobago.
USA and Dominican Republic recently concluded in third and seventh positions, respectively, at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup in Japan where China and Serbia sealed the first two tickets to the Olympics. Brazil is pre-qualified as host to the Olympic Games.
Preliminary Round Schedule
* September 27
13:00 Costa Rica v United States
15:00 Dominican Republic v Puerto Rico
17:00 Cuba v Canada
20:00 Mexico v Trinidad & Tobago
* September 28
14:00 Cuba v Costa Rica
16:00 Trinidad & Tobago v Dominican Republic
18:00 United States v Canada
20:00 Mexico v Puerto Rico
* September 29
14:00 Canada v Costa Rica
16:00 Puerto Rico v Trinidad & Tobago
18:00 United States v Cuba
20:00 Mexico v Dominican Republic