Brazilian fans celebrate World No. 1's ticket for the third round
Trieste, Italy, October 4, 2014 – World No. 1 Brazil, host Italy and the Dominican Republic have claimed their tickets for the third round of the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship on Saturday. The three sides join USA and China in qualifying to Round III who remained undefeated in their eighth consecutive match. On Sunday, Russia and Serbia will play for the last remaining spot for the third round.
In Pool E, World No. 5 China survived the Dominican Republic's onslaught to win 3-2 and remain undefeated at the 2014 World Championships. It was the Caribbean team's first loss in eight matches. In Bari, host Italy outclassed Japan 3-0 and have knocked the Asians out of the competition. With Italy’s win, the Dominican Republic got the last remaining spot from Pool E.
Germany have cruised past Belgium 3-0 to climb to fifth place in the Pool E standings. Belgium dropped to the eight rank, but there are two more matches on Sunday to determine the final ranking. In Saturday’s second match in Trieste, Azerbaijan came from a set down to defeat Croatia 3-1, in front of 3,800 thrilled spectators at PalaTrieste.
USA have shut out Serbia in straight sets in Verona to remain undefeated in eight matches at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship. The USA were already qualified for Round III and the result did not exclude Serbia from the race - but the Balkan side have to wait for their clash with defending champions Russia to claim their ticket for the third round. The Russians showed strong resistance versus World No. 1 Brazil, but eventually could not deal with the power and speed the Brazilians displayed. Zé Roberto’s squad ended the match 3-1 in their favor.
Bulgaria have promptly dealt with Kazakhstan 3-0 in Modena to secure at least seventh place in the final standings of Pool F. Earlier today, Turkey came from behind to defeat the Netherlands 3-1 and retain their fifth rank.
The second round of the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship will end on Sunday with the fourth and last competition day of Round II.
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 advancing to the third competition round.
Standings Pool E (in Trieste & Bari): 1. China (6-0, 16 points); 2. Italy (5-1, 16 points); 3. Dominican Republic (5-1, 12 points); 4. Japan (2-4, 8 points); 5. Germany (1-5, 6 points), 6. Croatia (2-4, 5 points); 7. Azerbaijan (2-4, 5 points), 8. Belgium (1-5, 4 points)
Standings Pool F (in Modena & Verona): 1. United States (6-0, 18 points); 2. Brazil (6-0, 17 points); 3. Serbia (4-2, 11 points); 4. Russia (3-3, 10 points); 5. Turkey (2-4, 7 points); 7. Bulgaria (2-4, 6 points); 6. Netherlands (1-5, 3 points); 8. Kazakhstan (0-6, 0 points)
Pool E
Dominican Republic-China / 2-3 / VIEW Germany-Belgium / 3-0 /
VIEWCroatia-Azerbaijan / 1-3 /
VIEWPool F
Turkey-Netherlands / 3-1 /
VIEWBrazil-Russia / 3-1 /
VIEWBulgaria-Kazakhstan / 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
Bethania De La Cruz De Peña-30 of Dominican Republic v Belgium and
Lise Van Hecke-30 of Belgium v Dominican Republic on 1-10-14
Tatiana Kosheleva-32 of Russia v Turkey on 2-10-14
Bethania De La Cruz De Peña-37 of Dominican Republic v China on 4-10-14
Top scoring performances
37- Bethania De La Cruz De Peña of Dominican Republic v China on 4-10-14
36- Polina Rahimova of Azerbaijan v Croatia on 4-10-14
33- Polina Rahimova of Azerbaijan v Japan on 23-9-14
32- Polina Rahimova of Azerbaijan v Puerto Rico on 25-9-14
32- Tatiana Kosheleva of Russia v Turkey on 2-10-14
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- Azerbaijan v Croatia on 4-10-14
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
218- Turkey v Russia 3-2 (19-25, 25-27, 25-22, 25-22, 15-13) on 2-10-14