Volleyball Women’s quarterfinal spots up for grabs on Day Three
Pivotal Day Three in the preliminary round of the women’s volleyball tournament at Rio 2016 Olympic Games turns the competition red-hot as the top teams look to secure tickets to the quarterfinals stage.
Wednesday’s programme of matches at the iconic Maracanazinho presents a duel between No. 1 world-ranked United States and World Cup runners-up Serbia at 15:00 (local time) for the supremacy in Pool B with the winners getting a pass to the next phase, as both squads have undefeated 2-0 win-loss records.
Two other sides in Pool A –Russia and two-time Olympic defending champions hosts Brazil- could finish the day with three victories without losses and rolling on a freeway into the quarterfinals.
The Russian team, which scored victories over Argentina and Korea in their first two showings, meets winless Cameroon (0-2) at 17:05 with plenty opportunities of clinching a spot in the round of eight.
Brazil won against Cameroon and Argentina in their previous appearances and will be challenged by Japan (1-1) in the nightcap at 22:35 in front of an anticipated full house cheering for the home girls.
Korea, the third Asian team in the competition, will be seeking for their second triumph in the event when they meet winless Argentina.
The actions begin with an early match of Puerto Rico, still looking for their first win, against World Cup champions China, followed by an all-European crucial contest between Italy (0-2) and Netherlands (1-1).
