The DR, ranked seventh in the world, defeated Puerto Rico (ranked 16th) and Canada (ranked 17th) in the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament held last week in Lincoln, Nebraska. On Saturday, 9 January 2016, however, the team failed to defeat the USA team, ranked first in the world. As a result, the US women’s volleyball team clinched the spot for the Rio de Janeiro Games made available in the tournament.
The Dominican Republic now needs to channel its focus on its participation in the Intercontinental Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan this May. Three slots to the Rio Olympics will be available at the world qualifier.
The third-place team in the South American Olympic Qualifier and the second- and third-place teams from the African Olympic Qualification Tournament will join Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, winners of the second and third place at the Nebraska event.
In the winner-take-all final match of the three-day tournament in Nebraska, the top-ranked US team defeated No. 7 Dominican Republic 25-19, 25-19, 25-18.
There was an unusual enthusiasm for the game, The Journal Star reported:
“When USA Volleyball hosts international tournaments for the senior teams, it likes to have 6,000 to 8,000 fans; more than that is a home run. In Lincoln, the crowds were more than 6,000 each night, and Lincoln hit it out of the park on the final day with a crowd of 10,213.”
As reported, in the final, Foluke Akinradewo ignited the US offence with 12 points, while Nicole Fawcett added 10 points and Jordan Larson with nine points. Brayelin Martinez led Dominican Republic with 15 points, while Prisilla Rivera and Gina Mambru added seven points each. USA held a 45-37 advantage in kills and benefited from 26 Dominican Republic errors.
Dominican Republic’s Gina Mambru was selected Best Server and Brenda Castillo was Best Digger at the Lincoln, Nebraska tournament. The DR team also scored the two highest scoring matches:
188- Dominican Republic vs. Canada 3-1 (25-27, 25-16, 26-24, 25-20) on January 8
176- Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico 3-1 (17-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-23) on January 7
http://journalstar.com/sports/local/usa-volleyball-in-lincoln-usa-clinches-olympic-berth-with-sweep/article_9f28b6c9-1683-5ec7-957f-682ec310b9e8.html
http://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/usa-seize-rio-2016-qualification?id=58605
http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/14539635/us-women-volleyball-team-defeats-dominican-republic-earn-spot-rio-olympics
http://journalstar.com/sports/local/usa-volleyball-in-lincoln-dominican-republic-improves-to–/article_d5e5f312-9546-5260-9078-d9c84f0f9481.html
