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Soto and Calderon the best from NORCECA at the World Championships

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, December 26, 2006.- Puerto Rican Hector Soto and Cuban Rosir Calderon were the most outstanding players from the NORCECA Confederation during the 2006 FIVB World Championships held in Japan.

 

Soto was the top scorer of the Men’s competition with a total of 271 points beating his nearest competitor Serbian Ivan Miljkovic (217) for more than 50 points.

 

Calderon finished as the best spiker of the Women’s event with 59.68 average of success. Nancy Carrillo and Yumilka Ruiz, two other Cubans, ranked third and fourth in that category with 56.00 and 50.20 respectively.

 

Soto also qualified as the eighth best spiker with an average of 52.51 and Calderon was the tenth best scorer with 172, behind American Nancy Metcalf who finished fifth with 185. More Spanish
 

Volleyball will be present at 2007 Miss Universe

 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, December 19, 2006.- Wilma Blasini, who has been part of the National Women’s Volleyball Team of Puerto Rico in several international competitions, now will represent her country in a world event one where she will not be spiking and blocking.

 

The slender Blasini has been elected to represent Puerto Rico at the 2007 Miss Universe Beauty Pageant. She was selected among participants from the different parts of the Caribbean island during a luxurious show at Puerto Rico ’s Convention Center last November. More Spanish

Curacao dominated Invitational Tournament

 

ORANJESTAD, Aruba, December 15, 2006.- Clubs Stakamahachi and Shuatanari from Curacao took the gold medals in both genders of an Invitational Tournament organized by the Volleyball Association of Aruba on December 7-9.

 

Teams from Suriname, Bonaire and Curacao took part of the competition along with host Aruba.

 

Stakamahachi won both of its matches in the Men’s event by blanking the opposition.a) 25-22, 25-19, 25-23. More Spanish
Panama confirmed its supremacy in Men’s Central American Volleyball
 

PANAMA CITY, Panama, December 10, 2006.- Panama ratified its supremacy in regional Volleyball winning the XIV Senior Central American Men’s Cup while defeating Costa Rica in four sets at the Roberto Duran Gymnasium. It was a match between the teams qualified in the top two positions during the preliminary round.

 

After losing the first set, the Panamanians triumphed in the next three and took the crown with a 23-25, 25-22, 28-26, 25-12 victory. They avenged the loss to the Costa Ricans suffered in five sets during the round robin phase.

It was the third consecutive title for Panama and seventh overall. They succeeded in 2002 in Costa Rica and repeated two years later in Honduras.

 

The performance by spiker Donaldo Urena was a key factor in the Panamanian win. Urena was the best scorer and blocker of the tournament and took the honors as the Most Valuable Player of the competition. More Spanish

Brazil retains world crown

 

TOKYO, Japan, December 3, 2006.- Brazil easily brushed past Poland in the final of the 2006 FIVB Men’s World Championship successfully defending their crown on Sunday. The team’s second consecutive World Championship gold medal solidify their position of leaders in all international Volleyball events as reigning World, Olympic and World League Champions as well as World Cup Champions and World Grand Champions.

 

The 2002 world champions defended their title in Tokyo with an awesome display of power and precision brushing aside Poland. The Brazilians won 25-12, 25-22, 25-17 and had their fans dancing in the aisles of Yoyogi National Stadium's No. 1 Gymnasium long before the victory was completed.  More Spanish
Ricardo Garcia  (BRA) celebrates

USA defeated Canada in five sets, Puerto Rico lost to Germany 
 

TOKYO, Japan, December 2, 2006.- The United States came back from 2-1 down to beat NORCECA’s regional rivals Canada 3-2 in the first match of the 9-12 play-offs at the Men’s Volleyball World Championship on Saturday.


World No. 5 USA held off the 12th-ranked Canadians 25-21, 24-26, 12-25, 25-21, 15-9 to move into Sunday's match for ninth place against Germany. Canada can now finish no higher than 11th.

 

Riley Salmon was the best American scorer with 14 points and David McKinzie and Reid Priddy added 11 and 10 respectively. Canadian Fred Winters scored 21 points, Paul Duerden and Pascal Cardinal added 17 and 16 and Murray Grapentine had 10 points.

 

In the second classification match for places 9-12, Germany powered past Puerto Rico 3-1. The Europeans won 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 25-18 and will now play USA for ninth place on Sunday. Puerto Rico will meet Canada for 11th place in the 24-team tournament. More Spanish
 

USA and Canada advance to Tokyo, Cuba is going home

 

HIROSHIMA, Japan, November 29, 2006.- The USA confirmed their place in the classification matches of the FIVB Men’s World Championship with a comfortable straight sets win over Cuba.


The Cubans had gone into the match aiming to snatch the USA's ticket to Tokyo, but the 25-22, 25-17, 25-22 score line ended their hopes and sent them out of the competition.


The result gives the US a final second round win-loss record of 3-4, which was enough to secure fifth place in Pool F. More Spanish

Camejo Durruthy (CUB) spikes against Suxho, Eatherton and Priddy (USA)
 

Puerto Rico advances to final round in Tokyo

 

SENDAI, Japan, November 28, 2006.- Puerto Rico beat Canada in straight sets on Tuesday to improve their record to 2-4 in Pool E and ensure a place in the final round of the FIVB Men’s World Championship.

 

Led by tournament top scorer Hector Soto with another dazzling performance, Puerto Rico won 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 leaving Canada at 1-5 and securing a place in the Tokyo playoffs. Soto hammered 18 points, Victor Rivera added 12 and Luis Rodriguez scored 10 points. Paul Duerden was the best Canadian with 14 points.

 

Carlos Cardona, Puerto Rican coach: “I'm satisfied that we won in straight sets. However, I think we could have played better than we did today. More Spanish

the libero of Puerto Rico Berrios celebrates
USA lost a close match to France
 

HIROSHIMA, Japan, November 26, 2006.- France came back from the brink to keep alive their semi-final ambitions at the Men’s Volleyball World Championship with a determined five-sets victory over USA by score of 17-25, 25-12, 24-26, 25-17, 15-11.

 

Frantz Granvorka led the French charge with 21 points. American David McKinzie had 24 points and Reid Priddy added 17.

 

USA coach Hugh McCutcheon: “We are disappointed to lose, but we can at least take that with each match our side looks more and more like a USA team. Our guys came out with a good fighting spirit, and we weren't lacking any effort. I think the guys who came off the bench did a good job, and we will keep fighting to get out of the group and win as many matches as possible."  More Spanish

Tough day for teams from NORCECA
 

HIROSHIMA, Japan, November 25, 2006.-  World and Olympic champions Brazil romped to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-23) victory over the United States in Pool F of the FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship on Saturday.

 

The victory meant Brazil took their Pool F record to 3-1, their only defeat coming at the hands of France during Pool B play in Fukuoka. The Americans dropped to 1-3 and now face a tough task trying to quality for the top 12 and a place in the positional play-offs.

 

Gilberto “Giba” Godoy led Brazil with 23 points and Andre Nascimento had 13. David McKinzie and Riley Salmon scored 11 and 10 points respectively for USA. More Spanish
All four NORCECA teams advanced to second round
 

SAITAMA, Japan, November 22, 2006.-  Pumped-up Puerto Rico beat China 3-1 in the first match of Pool A in the FIVB Volleyball World Championship for Men.

 

Puerto Rico won 25-17, 25-13, 21-25, 26-24 on their third match point to improve their win-loss record to 2-3 and drop China to the same mark.  Puerto Rico jumped above China on points-ratio to book their place in the top four.

 

Hector Soto topped Puerto Rican scorers with 16 points. Luis Rodriguez and Victor Rivera contributed 12 points apiece and Rene Estevez and Jose Rivera each had 11 tallies. More Spanish

Cuba and Canada secure spots in second round
 

FUKUOKA, Japan, November 21, 2006.- Cuba endured a torrid time from Greece to emerge 3-2 winners and collect their second Pool B triumph of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on Tuesday.

 

After a tough match that saw the Greeks produce some of their best volleyball today, Cuba finally snatched a 25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12 victory that gave them a 2-2 win-loss record and may be enough to propel them to the second round in Hiroshima.

 

Raydel Corrales and Yasser Portuondo led the Cuban charge with 28 and 20 points respectively and Oveldys Dominico added 15. More Spanish

The head coach of Cuba Garcia G. Roberto and players
USA and Cuba took first victories
 

NAGANO, Japan, November 19, 2006.- The USA Team got its first victory at the FIVB Men’s World Championships on Sunday as it defeated the Czech Republic, 3-1 (25-16, 15-25, 25-20, 25-23).

 

Team USA, ranked fifth in the world, improved its record to 1-2 and raised its chances of qualifying in Pool C. Only the top four teams from each pool advance to the next round.

 

Dave McKienzie and Jim Polster led the USA charge with 15 points apiece, and Reid Priddy added 14.

 

"We are happy to finally win a match, but our approach to the next match does not change,” said Hugh McCutcheon, the American coach. “We still have to keep on improving and we have a lot of work to do before the next games. We can only be happy for five minutes." More Spanish

Canada improves to 2-0 and Puerto Rico suffered a painful loss
 

SENDAI, Japan, November 18, 2006.- Canada improved its record to 2-0 after a 3-1 victory over South Korea in Pool D of the 2006 FIVB Men’s World Championship.

 

The Canucks recovered from a set down to secure their second win 26-28, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23 and consign the Koreans to another defeat.

 

Paul Duerden led Canada with 23 points, Fred Winters and Pascal Cardinal added 18 points apiece and Murray Grapentine contributed 10 points.

 

Canadian coach Glenn Hoag: “Both teams played well today. The Korean team has a strong defense and to fight against a team like that we needed to have patience. It was a very close match and you couldn’t really see any difference.” More Spanish
 

Puerto Rico produced major surprise edging Argentina 

SAITAMA, Japan, November 17, 2006.- Puerto Rico produced a major shock in the second game of Pool A on Friday, beating Argentina for the first time in an official FIVB match 3-2.

 

Puerto Rico, ranked 23rd in the world and playing in only their second Men’s World Championships after a 32-year absence, beat seventh-ranked Argentina 19-25, 34-32, 28-26, 21-25, 15-13 in a match that swung one way and then the other.

 

Hector Soto enjoyed a splendid match for Puerto Rico scoring 38 points. Jose Rivera had 23 and Luis Rodriguez 17.

 

Carlos Cardona, coach of Puerto Rico: “We are extremely happy to win and now it is vital to maintain this level of concentration. This match brought the best out of all the players, and I would like to thank the people for their support.” More Spanish
Russia takes 2006 FIVB Women’s World Championship title  
 

OSAKA, Japan, November 16, 2006.- Russia became the first team in over 18 months to beat Brazil in an FIVB international competition today as they outlasted the South Americans in the tie-break final at the FIVB Women’s World Championship.

 

The Russians won 15-25, 25-23, 25-18, 20-25, 15-13 to end Brazil's hopes of a first world crown and take the gold medal for the first time since 1990.

 

The final was the 104th match of the women's World Championships in Japan, which attracted over 250,000 spectators.   More Spanish Final Standings

Cuba lost battle with China and USA won
 

OSAKA, Japan, November 15, 2006 -- China outlasted Cuba in an intense battle in the 5-8 playoffs positions on Wednesday at the 2006 FIVB Women’s World Championship.

 

In an extremely close match, China won 26-24, 25-21, 26-28, 25-20, and Japan defeated The Netherlands, 25-21, 25-27, 25-21, 25-21.

 

In the round for the medals, Russia beat Italy 25-19, 25-16, 25-20 with Lioubov Sashkova leading the way with 21 points, and Sheila Castro’s 20 points led the victory of Brazil over Serbia & Montenegro 25-17, 25-14, 21-25, 25-20.

 

Wang Yimei led China with 22 points and Yang Hao and Xu Yunli added 16 and 10 respectively. More Spanish

Chinese players celebrate

Cuba to battle for 5-8 positions and USA for 9-12 
 

NAGOYA, Japan, November 12, 2006.- Cuba completed an unbeaten second round performance with a straight sets victory over Poland (25-18, 28-26, 25-23), but defeats to Serbia and Montenegro and Italy in the first phase denied them a chance of playing for the medals at the FIVB 2006 Women’s World Championship.

Cuba finished in third place in Pool E behind Italy and Serbia & Montenegro, and next will meet China, fourth in Pool F, in the competition for 5-8 positions along with The Netherlands (F-3) and Japan (E-4).

In the round for the medals, Brazil (F-1) will play Serbia & Montenegro (E-2) in semi finals and Italy (E-1) will meet Russia (F-2).

"We are very happy with our results and performances in the second round," said Felipe Calderon, the Cuban coach. "But the first phase was very tough for us. We now have to look forward and keep making progress every day." More Spanish

Cuba beat another Asian Team 
 

NAGOYA, Japan, November 11, 2006.- World No. 5 Cuba remained on the heels of Italy and Serbia and Montenegro with a comfortable straight-sets victory over Korea on Saturday.


 The three-time world champions improved their win-loss record to 4-2 in Pool E of the 2006 FIVB Women’s World Championship by defeating the eighth-ranked Koreans 25-19, 25-14, 25-22.

 

Cuban Rosir Calderon once again was impressive with her blistering spikes, scoring 14 out of 17 attempts and finishing with 15 points. Nancy Carrillo and Yumilka Ruiz added 13 and 11 respectively. More Spanish
 

Cuba won again while USA and Puerto Rico suffered losses

 

NAGOYA, Japan, November 9, 2006.- Cuba won for the second straight day at the FIVB Women’s World Championship second round, brushing aside Chinese Taipei 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 in Pool E, with a performance packed with thundering spikes, crunching blocks and booming serves.

 

Rosir Calderon led the Cuban barrage with 14 points and Yumilka Ruiz, Yanelis Santos and Nancy Carrillo each had 12 tallies.

 

“Our team is getting better as a group,” said Felipe Calderon, the coach of Cuba. “The Taipei team was very concentrated so I considered serving is the key point in order to play well.” More Spanish
Cubans came out winners in opening day of second round 
 

NAGOYA, Japan, November 8, 2006.- – The first day of action in the second round of the 2006 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship saw Cuba coming out as the only team from the NORCECA Confederation to get a victory.

 

In Pool E, the Olympic bronze medalists dealt a severe blow to host Japan winning a battle 22-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 to improve their chances of a top-two finish in the second round.

 

Rosir Calderon (20), Yumilka Ruiz (19) and Nancy Carrillo (15) were the Cuban leading scorers.

 

“It was a good game for both teams, and I believe the better team won. Our tactical team play was very good, and so was our serving,” said Ruiz, the Cuban Captain. More Spanish

USA was the best positioned team from NORCECA in first round
 

KOBE, Japan, November 5, 2006.- USA crushed Puerto Rico in straight sets 25-14, 25-16, 25-15 and qualified in second place in a Pool C match of the 2006 FIVB Women’s World Championship.

 

USA was the best positioned team from the NORCECA Confederation in this phase og the event. Cuba qualified in third place in Pool D and Puerto Rico was fourth in Pool C. Dominican Republic (19), Costa Rica (20) and Mexico (23) were eliminated in the first round. More Spanish

Costa Rica and Dominican Republic got first victories
 

TOKYO, Japan, November 4, 2006.- Costa Rica defeated Kenya in a five-set come from behind victory 19-25, 23-25, 25-16, 32-30, 15-9 in Pool A action of  the 2006 Women’s Volleyball World Championship.

Verania Willis led five players in double figures with 30 points. Angela Willis had 21, Onicka Pinnock tallied 14, Karen Cope added 11 and Johanna Moore had 10.

“The longer the game went on the better we were able to concentrate, and in the fourth set we showed a stronger mentality to win it,” said Braulio Godinez, the Costa Rican coach. In Pool B, Dominican Republic defeated Mexico in straight sets (25-20, 25-19, 25-12). More Spanish

(from left) Thompson, Ramirez and Willis Angela of Costa Rica

Puerto Rico advanced to second round
 

KOBE, Japan, November 3, 2006.- Puerto Rico secured a spot in the second round of the FIVB 2006 Women’s World Championship with a spectacular victory over Kazakhstan by score of 25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23 in Pool C.

Karina Ocasio had a splendid match with 25 points and she was followed by Aury and Eva Cruz with 18 and 14 respectively and Jetzabel del Valle who had 13.

“Now we are in the second round,” said coach Juan Carlos Nunez. “The key today was to keep a balanced offense with everyone contributing. Now we will go tomorrow against The Netterlands looking for another victory.” More Spanish

USA and Puerto Rico won in Day Two at the Worlds 
 

KOBE, Japan, November 1, 2006.- USA overcame a 0-2 deficit to defeat The Netherlands in five sets and Puerto Rico beat Cameroon 3-0 as the two winning teams from NORCECA in the second day of action of the 2006 FIVB Women’s World Championship.

Meanwhile, Cuba lost to Serbia & Montenegro, Dominican Republic was defeated by China, Mexico lost to Germany and Costa Rica was downed by Japan.

Nancy Metcalf and Tayyiba Haneef each scored 21 points for the Americans who one day earlier also needed five sets to prevail against Kazakhstan in Pool C.   More Spanish
Cuba and USA scored first day victories
 

SAPPORO , Japan , October 31, 2006.- Cuba and USA won their respective matches during the first day of competition at the FIVB 2006 Women’s World Championship while the other four teams from the NORCECA Confederation came out losing their encounters.

The Olympic bronze medalists Cuba needed only three sets to beat Turkey 25-20, 27-25, 25-20 in Pool D, and USA was stretched to five sets in their triumph over Kazakhstan 19-25, 25-19, 25-19, 26-28, 16-14 in Pool C. Dominican Republic and Mexico lost to Germany and Russia in Pool B respectively, Puerto Rico was defeated by Brazil in Pool C, and Costa Rica lost to Korea in Pool A.. More Spanish

Six Teams from NORCECA start playing in Japan on Tuesday
 

TOKYO , October 30, 2006 – The 2006 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship starts on 31st October 2006 with six teams from NORCECA Confederation among the 24 qualified teams to compete for the prestigious title of World Champion.

 

Cuba , USA and Dominican Republic are ranked fifth, sixth and tenth respectively in FIVB World Rankings, while Puerto Rico is in the twelfth position, Mexico is in twenty- eight place and Costa Rica is 33.

 

Dominicans and Mexico are in Pool B in Sapporo , considered “The Group of Death” and will need to overcome the opposition of Germany and Azerbaijan besides the powerhouses of China and Russia .

 

The Dominicans meet Germany on Tuesday at 2:00 , while Mexico meets Russia at 4:00 . In Pool A, Costa Rica meets Korea in Tokyo at 12:00 , while in Pool C at Kobe Puerto Rico plays against Brazil and USA compete against Kazakhstan at 2:00 and 6:00 respectively. In Pool D in Nagoya , Cuba plays Turkey starting at 4:00 .