Tijuana and Mexicali, Mexico, July 17, 2009 - Six teams clinched berths in the main bracket of the FIVB Women's Junior World Championship by improving to 2-0 on Friday night. Four teams (defending champions Brazil, hosts Mexico, Dominican Republic and Netherlands) qualified for the quarterfinals in Mexicali, while Germany and Turkey claimed their tickets in Tijuana. The six teams are guaranteed of finishing no worse than second in their pools, good enough to advance to the next phase of the competition. China and Chinese Taipei in Pool B and Bulgaria and Cuba in Pool D are still in contention for spots in the Final Eight. All four teams have 1-1 records. On Saturday, Bulgaria and Cuba clash in a do-or-die match, while Chinese Taipei plays winless Czech Republic and China meets unbeaten Germany. In Mexicali, the home team defeated Venezuela in four sets to keep its unbeaten record in two outings before the local fans. The score was 25-11, 16-25, 25-22, 25-13. Xitlali Herrera notched 12 points for the winning side and Samantha Bricio added 10. Two Venezuelans carried the load for their teams with Wendy Romero and Mariangel Perez recording 18 and 17 points respectively. One big surprise took place on Friday in Tijuana as Chinese Taipei upset China in a five-set thriller, 20-25, 25-13, 25-15, 13-25, 16-14. Chen Shih Ting had a sensational night scoring 26 points for the winners and Chen Wang Ting added 18 of her own. Liu Xiaotong topped Chinese scorers with 17 points. In Pool D, Turkey recorded a 25-16, 25-15, 25-22 victory over Cuba and Bulgaria came back from one set down to defeat USA 23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-17. Turkey's Nesve Buyukbayram led her side with 17 points and Polen Uslupehlivan and Busra Cansu added 14 and 12 to the victory. Cubans Yoana Palacios and Wilma Salas had 12 and 11 points respectively. Bulgarian Dobriana Rabadzhieva enjoyed a superb night with 20 points and teammates Gabriela Tsvetanova and Elitsa Vasileva each contributed 17 points to the success. Alexis Olgard scored 11 points and Morgan Broekhuis and Amanda Dowdy had 10 tallies apiece for USA. In Pool B, Germany blanked Czech Republic 25-20, 25-13, 25-22 with Janine Volker and Sarah Petrausch contributing to the triumph with 12 and 11 points respectively. In Mexicali, defending champions Brazil trounced Kenya in straight sets by a score of 25-2, 25-10, 25-8 in just 55 minutes in Pool C. Leticia Hage and Isadora Rodrigues paced the Brazilians with 10 points apiece and Natiele Gonzalves added eight. Also in Pool C, the Dominican Republic scored a 25-21, 25-21, 25-16 victory over Poland in just 72 minutes. Jeoselyna Rodriguez and Lisvel Eve led the Dominican attack with 15 and 12 points and Candida Arias charted 8 points. Maja Tokarska was the only Pole in double figures, scoring 10 points. In Pool A, Netherlands needed only 63 minutes to crush Thailand 25-17, 25-21, 25-9. Annouk Timmer and Nicole Koolhaas each recorded 11 points for the winners, while Surasawadee Boonyuen had a match-high 17 points for Thailand. |
