Trieste, Italy, September 28, 2014 – Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Belgium have claimed the last four second round tickets at 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Italy on Sunday. Host Italy, Brazil, USA and China finish on top of their pools with only USA going into the second round on full points.
The Dominican Republic have defeated Italy 3-2 in Sunday’s top clash to remain undefeated in Pool A. It is the host, however, who finish at the top of the standings, thanks to the point they secured on Sunday evening. Nonetheless, Italy will not be continuing in Round II on full points. Earlier on Sunday, Croatia have defeated Germany 3-2. Both teams were already qualified, but Croatia gained the two extra points and finish third in Pool A, leaving Germany in fourth place. In Pool A’s first match of the day, Argentina have defeated Tunisia 3-0 to claim their first (and only) victory at these World Championships.
World No. 1 Brazil have saved the day coming back from 0-1 down to defeat Serbia 3-1 in Trieste and finish undefeated at the top of Pool B. However, the reigning Olympic champions do have a one-point deficit going into Round II, due to the two sets they lost to Turkey. Turkey kept the momentum of Saturday night's brilliant performance against World No. 1 and defeated Cameroon in straight sets on Sunday morning for a ticket to Round II. The Balkan side join Brazil, Serbia and Bulgaria in qualifying from Pool B.
USA pulled together to defeat defending champions Russia 3-1. This leaves the USA undefeated at the top of the Pool C table and going into Round II on full points - a three-point advantage over their opponents. Kazakhstan stormed past Thailand 3-0 to earn their ticket to Round II of the World Championships. Kazakhstan finish fourth in the Pool C standings, leaving the reigning Asian champions in fifth place. Earlier today, the Netherlands have completed their job in Verona for a 3-0 victory over Mexico to secure the third place in Pool C.
Belgium have swept Puerto Rico in straight sets to finish third in the Pool D rankings and taking the last ticket for the second competition phase. Pool D leaders China managed to keep their top position by defeating Japan 3-2, but they go through to Round II with a deficit of one point after Sunday’s All-Asian top clash. Azerbaijan struggled but have claimed victory 3-1 versus Cuba which earns them a ticket to the next round of the World Championships as well.
2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship battle will resume on Wednesday with the first day of the second round featuring the best 16 teams of the planet.
A total of 32 matches are played during the second phase of the tournament, running from October 1-5 in the Italian cities of Bari, Trieste, Verona and Modena with the best three teams of Pool E and Pool F respectively advancing to the third competition round.
POOL E (in Trieste & Bari): Italy, Dominican Republic, Croatia, Germany, China, Japan, Belgium, Azerbaijan
POOL F (in Modena & Verona): Brazil, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, USA, Russia, Netherlands, Kazakhstan
Pool A
Tunisia-Argentina / 0-3 / VIEW Croatia-Germany / 3-2 /
VIEWItaly-Dominican Republic / 2-3 /
VIEW
Pool B
Cameroon-Turkey / 0-3 /
VIEWBulgaria-Canada / 3-0 /
VIEWBrazil-Serbia / 3-1 /
VIEW
Pool C
Mexico-Netherlands / 0-3 /
VIEWKazakhstan-Thailand / 3-0 /
VIEW
Pool D
Azerbaijan-Cuba / 3-1 /
VIEW Belgium-Puerto Rico / 3-0 /
VIEW
TOP PERFORMANCES
Top scorer by day
Polina Rahimova- 33 of Azerbaijan v Japan on 23-9-14
Brankica Mihajlovic- 31 of Serbia v Bulgaria on 24-9-14
Polina Rahimova- 32 of Azerbaijan v Puerto Rico on 25-9-14
Lise Van Hecke- 23 of Belgium v Azerbaijan on 27-9-14
Tatiana Kosheleva-31 of Russia v USA on 28-9-14
Top scoring performances
33- Polina Rahimova of Azerbaijan v Japan on 23-9-14
32- Polina Rahimova of Azerbaijan v Puerto Rico on 25-9-14
31- Brankica Mihajlovic of Serbia v Bulgaria on 24-9-14
31- Tatiana Kosheleva of Russia v USA on 28-9-14
Top blocking performances
10- Kubra Akman of Turkey v Bulgaria on 25-9-14
9- Zhu Ting of China v Japan on 28-9-14
Top serving performances
6- Regla Gracia Gonzalez of Cuba v Azerbaijan on 29-9-14
5- Mizuho Ishida of Japan v Azerbaijan on 23-9-14
5- Margareta Kozuch of Germany v Croatia on 28-9-14
Top team blocking performances
24- Brazil v Turkey on 27-9-14
19- China v Japan on 28-9-14
Top team serving performances
13- Croatia v Tunisia on 27-9-14
12- Germany v Croatia on 28-9-14
Highest scoring sets
36-34 Thailand v Mexico (2nd set) on 25-9-14
34-32 USA v Russia (1st set) on 28-9-14
32-30 Netherlands v Mexico (1st set) on 28-9-14
Highest scoring matches
220- USA v Russia 3-1 (34-32, 25-19, 29-31, 26-24) on 28-9-14
218- Azerbaijan v Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-20, 24-26, 26-24, 16-25, 17-15) on 25-9-14
218- Croatia v Dominican Republic 2-3 (22-25, 13-25, 25-22, 26-24, 17-19) on 25-9-14
217- Dominican Republic v Germany 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 15-13) on 23-9-14