FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championships Recap: Wednesday's Pool D matches
The first round of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Women's Volleyball World Championship concluded on Wednesday. Of the 24 teams that qualified for the tournament, 16 remain. Russia
finished with a 5-0 record, losing only three sets along the way, to take first place in Pool D.
Pool D
Canada vs Dominican Republic
Both Canada and the Dominican Republic entered their final games as winless teams. Both were already eliminated, but neither wanted to leave the tournament without any wins. It was a close match with Canada
taking the first set, but ultimately falling to the Dominicans 3-1 (21-25, 28-26, 25-11, 25-20). The Dominicans finished 1-4 while Canada finished 0-5.
Prisilla Rivera had a match-high 24 points for the Dominicans, and Tiffany Dodds led Canada with 14.
“We started well,” said Canada’s captain, Tammy Louise Mahon. “It was the same as yesterday. We didn't react well. This tournament was a great experience for us.”
“Our goal coming to Osaka was to make it to Tokyo. Unfortunately we couldn't do it,” said the Dominican captain, Milagros Cruz. “After playing in four world championships, this will likely be my last one.”
Korea vs Turkey
Korea and Turkey came into this match with 3-1 records, with the winner earning second spot in the pool. Both teams played hard, and the match had to be decided by a fifth set with Korea coming out on
top, winning 3-2 (16-25, 25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 15-13). Korea finished with a 4-1 record while Turkey dropped to 3-2, and finished in third place.
Yeon-Koung Kim was the best scorer for Korea with 23 points, and Neslihan Darnel led both teams in scoring with 29 points for Turkey.
“It was a good quality game. We didn't have a higher level than them today, we just had luck with us,” said Korea’s coach, Sam-Ryong Park.
Russia vs China
Russia improved to 5-0 with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-19) victory over China, who fell to 2-3, but will have a place in the second round with a fourth place finish in the pool. China, who is the third ranked
women’s volleyball team in the world, will have a difficult time in the second round after failing to win against any of the other advancing teams from the pool.
Tatiana Kosheleva was the top scorer for Russia with 20 points, and Wang Yimei led China with 12.
“I'm satisfied with our performance in Osaka,” said Russia’s coach, Vladimir Kuzyutkin. “We overcame all the challenges we faced. China is a good team. Our serves, blocks and attacks all worked well tonight.”
Russia (1), Korea (2), Turkey (3), and China (4) will advance to the second round and compete in Pool E.
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