SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, February 14, 2008.- For Beato Miguel Cruz there is light at the end of the tunnel for his Dominican Women’s Team currently in preparation for the World Olympic Qualification Tournament to be held in Tokyo, Japan on May 17-25.

“I can see a good chance for us to make the Olympic Games for a second consecutive edition,” said Cruz during a break of a training session in Santo Domingo. “We have had victories or close matches against most of our potential opponents in the Tokyo Tournament.”  More Spanish

LAS PALMAS, Gran Canaria, February 13, 2008.- Puerto Rican Aury Cruz of Icaro Palma Team was included in the Ideal Seven of the HM The Queen’s Cup of Spain.

Cruz, who scored 48 points in two matches, was one of two receivers elected the All-Star of the 33 edition of the competition won by Grupo Murcia 2005 for second consecutive year.

Brazilian Helia da Souza (Fofao) won the election as the best player of the event and was credited also as the Best Setter, while playing masterfully for Grupo Murcia. The veteran player received the Golden Molten Ball as MVP of the tournament.

The Best Opposite was Spaniard Silvia Fernandez de Velasco while scoring 47 points for Voley Sanse of Madrid in three matches.

Polish Malgorzata Glinka, who had 35 points in three outings for Grupo Murcia, was also selected as part of the team as Receiver. More Spanish

LAS PALMAS, Gran Canaria, February 12, 2008.- Dominican Prisilla Rivera was the top scorer for Grupo Murcia 2005, winner for second year in a row of the HM The Queen Cup of Spain.

Rivera totalled 36 points during the three matches won by her side in the event held at Centro Insular of Gran Canaria. Polish Malgorzata Glinka followed with 35 tallies and Brazilians Walewska Moreira and Jaqueline Carvalho contributed 32 and 30 points.

Grupo Murcia 2005 debuted with a 25-21, 25-15, 25-19 victory over Gran Canaria Hotel Cantur with Glinka leading the scoring with 15 points. Carvalho, Moreira and Marisa Fernandez had 12, 11 and 10 respectively and Rivera added 9.

In the semi final match won by score of 25-13, 25-18, 25-16 over CV Albacete, Rivera, Carvalho and Fernandez each scored 11 points while Moreira and Glinka had 6 apiece. More Spanish

Lausanne, 11 February 2008 – The FIVB has granted Puerto Rico Women’s team the place available in the Olympic World Qualification Tournament to be held in Tokyo from 17 to 25 May. Following the Continental Qualification Tournaments, the final place for this eight-team tournament was to be decided by a Playoff between Peru and Kenya, the teams ranked second in the South American and African Qualifiers, but both teams dropped their applications. Uruguay (third in the World Rankings for South America) wasn’t ready to apply, while Egypt (third in the World Rankings among African countries) has not played in any Continental Qualification Tournaments. In these circumstances, the FIVB has chosen Puerto Rico, the best Norceca team in the World Rankings after Dominican Republic.

Eight teams will compete in Tokyo for the last four places in the Olympic entry list: Japan (host country), Thailand, Korea, Kazakhstan (best-ranked teams in the Asian Continental Championship), Serbia, Poland (best world-ranked team from CEV), Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (best world-ranked teams from NORCECA). More Spanish

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, 5 February 2008 – The process to compile the entry list for the 2010 FIVB World Championships has just started. The National Federations affiliated to the FIVB have been summoned to the qualification process, by receiving all the official documentations.

The goal has already been set by Dr. Rubén Acosta, President of the FIVB: a record number of countries registered for the largest worldwide Volleyball event ever. Italy for the Men’s competition and Japan for the Women’s tournament will host the Championships in 2010, with 24 teams for each gender. That will be the last part of a huge event: the qualification process which will involve the entire planet.

1 May 2008 is the deadline for all the National Federations to register their teams for the 1,2,3, and Playoff Round Tournaments. Each Federation has also received the conditions to organise the qualification tournaments. More Spanish

HAVANA, Cuba, February 5, 2008.- The Havana City team edged Camaguey in a close match 3-0 (29-27, 25-22, 25-22) winning the first place in the First Category Women’s National Championship played in the 19 of November Hall at Pinar del Río.

Several players of the champion team in the Pan American Games of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, developed a tough battle for the victory excelling both in defence and offence.

In the match for the bronze medal, Villa Clara defeated Pinar del Rio by score of 25-15, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-17. In the rest of the standing placed the teams of Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and Havana.  More Spanish

TOKYO, Japan, February 5, 2008.- Dominican Sidarka Nunez has been an instant success in the Ranking Challenge Japanese League scoring 73 points in her first two matches both wins for Ageo Team.

A member of the Dominican National Team, the hard-hitting lefty totalled 68 kills on 114 swings, and added two blocks and three serving aces.

Two other Dominicans, Bethania de la Cruz and Cindy Rondon, are also enjoying splendid starts in the Ranking Premier League.

Considered the best Dominican attacker, De la Cruz has contributed to the first place currently occupied by Toray Team (8-3) scoring 140 points in five matches. She has 131 kills and 9 blocks. Rondon, a middle-blocker for Denso Team (7-4) has 125 points divided in 109 attacks, 14 blocks and 2 aces. More Spanish

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, February 5, 2008.- USA Volleyball announced its choices for Athletes of the Year, Team of the Year and Coaches of the Year as part of the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) annual awards program.

Tayyiba Haneef-Park and Ryan Millar were selected as the Female and Male Indoor Athletes of the Year. Misty May-Treanor and Todd Rogers were chosen as Female and Male Beach Athletes of the Year. May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh earned the Beach Team of the Year distinction. Lora Webster was tabbed as the Sitting Volleyball Player of the Year. More Spanish

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, February 5, 2008.- Hector Soto, the stellar member of the Volleyball Men’s National Team, was elected as “Athlete of the Year” for second consecutive time and will be the recipient of the ASES Award presented by the Sport’s Museum of Puerto Rico.

Soto received 48 per cent of the vote of a poll conducted by “Primera Hora” daily newspaper.

Soto enjoyed a dream year in 2007 winning three titles as best scorer in the Rio de Janeiro Pan American Games, the NORCECA Continental Championship in Anaheim, California and in the World Cup in Japan. More Spanish

HAVANA, Cuba, February 4, 2008.- Teams of Camaguey and Villa Clara, winners of pools A and B respectively, will meet against Pinar del Rio and Havana City in the semi finals of the Volleyball Women’s National Tournament.

In the quarterfinals Pinar del Rio defeated Santiago de Cuba 25-17, 25-14 y 25-22 and the girls from Havana beat Cienfuegos 25-18, 25-14 y 25-18.

Yumilka Ruiz, captain of the National Team, led Camaguey to victories over Havana 3-1 (25-29, 22-25, 27-25 y 25-18) and Santiago de Cuba 3-0 (25-19, 25-22 y 25-18.

Meanwhile, Villa Clara and Pinar del Rio both finished the preliminary round with 2-1 record, but Villa Clara won the pool by points-ratio.

Middle blocker Rachel Sanchez, of Pinar del Rio, and who replaced Zoila Barros as starter in the National Team during the last two international competitions, was the leading scorer for the first round with 56 points. More Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 11, 2008.- Puerto Rican Hector “Picky” Soto was selected the Most Valuable Player of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier. Soto was the second best scorer of the competition won by USA.

Mexican Ivan Contreras was the top scorer and his countryman Tomas Aguilera was the player selected as “Rising Star.”

American Richard Lambourne was credited as best receiver and best libero, and he was joined in the All-Star by team mates Sean Rooney as best spiker, Ryan Millar as top blocker and Clayton Stanley as the best server. More Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 11, 2008.- USA won a ticket to the Beijing Olympic Games with a clear victory over Puerto Rico in the final match of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The American blocking (13-5) proved to be too much for the host Puerto Ricans. The score was 25-20, 25-19, 25-20.

Seldom used Sean Rooney was spectacular today for the winning side, attacking way over the blocking and finishing with 16 points, while David Lee and Clayton Stanley each had 10 points. Ryan Millar had five blocks among his 8 points. Hector Soto had 16 points for Puerto Rico.

“I feel relieved and excited,” said Hugh McCutcheon, the coach of USA. “The team rose to the occasion and we executed in all the aspects of the game. So many guys performed at their highest level and with a lot of energy.” More Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 11, 2008.- Cuba finished in the third position at the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament after prevailing against Canada by scores of 25-23, 25-23, 24-26, 25-23.

Rolando Jurquin and Robertlandy Simon led five Cuban players in double figures with 18 and 16 respectively. Henry Bell had 13 and Yoandry Leal and Raydel Corrales each had 11 tallies. Fred Winters, Chris Wolfenden and Dallas Soonias had 21, 19 and 16 points respectively for Canada.

“I want to thank all the fans of Puerto Rico for their great support,” More Spanish

To all the loyal fans of the sport of volleyball, we do express our most sincere gratitude for the support that you have given to our Men’s National Team during these six days of this qualifier for the Olympic Games Beijing 2008.

During this week, the eyes of the world have been focused on Puerto Rico because the success that we have achieved has travelled the whole planet.

We have carried out our signal through radio, television and internet in and outside of Puerto Rico so nobody could stay without enjoying this historic tournament, but you, those who night after night crowded this court and enjoyed in live our victories, I paid my respect for trusting in this team and for accompanying day after day on our way to Beijing.

Once again, thanks and God bless Puerto Rico. Spanish

Carlos Beltran, President of Puerto Rico Volleyball Federation

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 11, 2008.- Mexico recovered from losing the first set and went on to beat Dominican Republic in four sets to finish fifth at the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier. The score was 22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-20.

Once again veteran Ivan Contreras topped the Mexican offense with 21 points. Four other team mates had double figures: Gustavo Meyer and Irving Bricio added 13 apiece while Juan Garcia and Tomas Aguilera contributed 12 and 10 respectively. Victor Batista and Jose Caceres had 25 and 20 for the Dominican Republic. More Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 11, 2008.- Trinidad & Tobago defeated Barbados in five sets to finish in the seventh position at the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The score was 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 15-11.

Marc-Anthony Honore led the winners with 28 points and Jessel Davis and Christian Francois added 13 apiece. For Barbados, Fabian Cox and Elwyn Oxley each scored 13 and Romer Agard had 11.

It was only the second win ever for the Trinidadians against their Caribbean rivals with the other coming two years  More Spanish

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 10, 2008.- Puerto Rico will meet USA in the decisive match of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The host team moved to the gold medal match with a win over Canada 41-39, 25-21, 25-19 on Thursday night before more than 9,000 spectators.

Hector “Picky” Soto led Puerto Rico with 27 points and Jose Rivera and Luis Rodriguez added 11 and 10 respectively. Dallas Soonias (22), Fred Winters (11) and Steve Brinkman were in double digits for Canada.

“We have played a great match and our serves complicated the game for the Canadians,” More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 10, 2008.- USA moved one step closer to Beijing while advancing to the gold medal match in the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a victory over Cuba in straight sets by score of 25-22, 27-25, 25-18.

The Americans will play against the winner of the match Canada-Puerto Rico later today.

Clayton Stanley and Riley Salmon each had 11 points and Sean Rooney and Ryan Millar contributed 9 and 8 respectively.  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 10, 2008.- Dominican Republic defeated Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 28-26) advancing to a match against Mexico on Friday for the fifth position of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The Dominicans had to come from behind (22-24) in the third set. One spike by Victor Batista followed by one service winner by Jose Caceres sealed the victory.

Caceres had 17 points, including four blocks, and Batista provided 14 to the winning effort. More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 10, 2008.- Mexico advanced to the match for fifth place of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier by defeating Barbados in straight sets by score of 25-13, 25-17, 25-15.

Iván Contreras, who is leading all the scorers in the competition, added 20 points increasing his total to 97. Gustavo Meyer had 13 and Juan Virgen contributed 8. Elwyn Oxley was the best scorer of Barbados with 9 tallies.

“After the painful loss of last night against Puerto Rico I had some concerns about the mental state of my team,” said Jorge Azair.  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 9, 2008.- Host team Puerto Rico survived an intense battle of five sets against Mexico and advanced to a semi final match with Canada in the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The score was 25-23, 30-28, 22-25, 19-25, 15-11.

Hector Soto led Puerto Rico with 24 points and Jose Rivera added 19. Enrique Escalante contributed 11 and Luis Rodriguez came off the bench to score 4 points in the tie-breaker. Ivan Contreras and Irving Bricio scored 27 and 20 respectively and Juan Garcia and Tomas Aguilera added 12 and 10. More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 9, 2008.- Cuba will meet USA in a semi final match of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. They advanced by defeating Dominican Republic 25-15, 25-21, 25-23 in the quarterfinals.

Rolando Jurquin led Cuba with 15 points, Raydel Corrales added 12 and Henry Bell contributed 10. Odelvis Dominico and Roberlandy Simon each added 9 points. Jose Caceres and Victor Batista totalled 21 and 10 points for Dominican Republic.

”We are catching our rhythm and this one has been our best performance,” said Orlando Samuels, the Cuban coach.  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 8, 2008.- Third world-ranked USA joined Canada in advancing to the semi final round of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier after a victory over host Puerto Rico in straight sets before an enthusiastic local paid crowd of 9,750 at Coliseo Hector Sola Bezares. The scores were 25-21, 25-23, 25-22.

The triumph secured USA a place in the semi final round. Puerto Rico will meet Mexico on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Clayton Stanley and Ryan Millar led USA with 15 and 12 respectively and David Lee,  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 8, 2008.- Canada won Pool B of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier by defeating Mexico 25-21, 25-19, 26-24.

The Canadians finished with a 3-0 mark and advanced directly to the semi final round. Mexico (1-2) finished third and will meet the loser of the match between USA and Puerto Rico in the quarter finals.

Dallas Soonias and Fred Winters topped Canada with 15 and 12 points respectively and Mexico had Ivan Contreras (17), Gustavo Meyer (11) and Irving Bricio (10) in double-digits. More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 8, 2008.- The Dominican Republic defeated Barbados in straight sets (25-19, 25-19, 25-17) and advanced to a quarterfinals match against Cuba on Wednesday. The Dominicans (1-2) ended in third place of Pool A and Barbados finished in fourth (0-3).

Jose Caceres led three Dominicans in double figures with 15 points, followed by Victos Batista and Eury Almonte with 11 and 10 respectively. Fabian Cox and Renier Grace each had 9 points for Barbados.

“We came trying to secure the advance to the next phase and we did it,” said Jacinto Campechano, the Dominican coach.  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 8, 2008.- Cuba defeated Trinidad & Tobago in consecutive sets (25-13, 25-8, 25-15) in the first match of Tuesday at the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Cuba (2-1) finished in second place of Pool B while Trinidad & Tobago (0-3) placed fourth.

Roberlandy Simon was the best scorer of Cuba with 10 points, including three blocks, and Rolando Jurquin had two blocks among his 8 tallies. Trinidadian Marc-Anthony Honore scored 10 points. More Spanish  P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 7, 2008.- Puerto Rico won a tough battle against Dominican Republic in three sets (28-26, 25-21, 38-36) advancing to a decisive match against USA for the first place in Pool A of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier on Tuesday.

Hector Soto topped Puerto Rico with 26 points and was helped in the attack by Jose Rivera and Luis Rodriguez with 15 and 12 points respectively. Dominican Jose Caceres led all the scorers with 29 and Victor Batista added 19.

“It was a very emotional game and we had problems adjusting our blocking even that it was against two players,”  More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 7, 2008.- Dallas Soonias scored 28 points and Fred Winters added 20 leading Canada to a 25-23, 19-25, 26-24, 25-20 victory over Cuba in the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The Canadians are one win away of winning Pool ?

Murray Grapentine contributed 10 points for the Cannucks. Raydel Corrales, Rolando Jurquin and Roberlandy Simon had 19, 14 and 13 points respectively for Cuba.

“We beat Cuba, one of the top teams in the world and feel very happy,” More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 7, 2008.- USA rolled past Barbados in straight sets by scores of 25-14, 25-10, 25-16 for their second victory in as many outings at the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Sean Rooney led USA with 20 points, Ryan Miller added 9 and Clayton Stanley contributed 8 points, including five aces. Shawn Simpson had 9 tallies for Barbados.

“We have a good practice in the morning and were prepared for the match,” said Captain Thomas Hoff. More Spanish P2 form

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, January 7, 2008.- Mexico (1-1) took an easy victory in straight sets over Trinidad & Tobago (0-2) in the first match of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Qualifier in Day Two of action. The scores were 25-20, 25-13, 25-11.

Ivan Contreras and Juan Garcia had 12 and 11 points respectively for Mexico while Trinidadian Marc Honore had 9.

“I hope my team can get into a better rhythm as the competition continues,” said Jorge Azair. “I have confidence in my young players combined with the experience of Ivan.” More Spanish P2 form