Beijing Olympic Volleyball

Serbians become first team to qualify for Beijing Games at Tokyo Women's Olympic qualifier

The Serbs celebrate victory against Puerto Rico and qualification for the Beijing Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan, May 23, 2008 – Serbia became the first of four teams to book their ticket to the 2008 Beijing Games at the Women’s Olympic World Qualification Tournament after downing Puerto Rico in straight sets in the second match on Friday at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

It is the first time a Women’s team from Serbia, including the former Yugoslavia, has qualified for the Olympic Games.

The 2006 World Championship bronze medal winner, ranked No. 7 in the world, eased past their world No. 19 NORCECA opponents 25-12, 25-18, 25-18 in just 1 hour to collect 10 points from a perfect 5-0 record so far, enough to ensure they are the ninth of 12 teams to qualify for Beijing.

Italy, Brazil, USA, Algeria, Cuba and Venezuela and Russia have already booked their tickets through the 2007 FIVB World Cup or Continental Qualification Tournaments while China has qualified as the host country.

The best three teams plus the best Asian team (even if any of the best three are Asian) qualify for Beijing at the Women's Olympic qualifier here in Tokyo.

An elated Jelena Nikolic, who plays her Club Volleyball in Japan for VC Takefuji Bamboo, said she was struggling to explain her feelings.

"I felt pleasure that I never felt before in my life. It is the dream of every sportsman to go to the Olympics and only our girls and our staff know how hard it was to reach it," said the 26-year-old wing spiker. "We had many, many problems this year. The team was not always complete, with a lot of injuries. It seems like we played with one heart more tha

n ever."

Serbia still has two matches to play against Poland on May 24 and host Japan on May 25.

The ruthless Serbians displayed their blocking and spiking talents soon after the match began against Puerto Rico – top spiker Jovana Brakocevic, who clinched a match high 18 points, attacked viciously from the left, Javana Vesovic scored block points one by one, which limited the ace spiker Aurea Cruz of Puerto Rico to only 12 points compared with 23 points she got in the previous match against Kazakhstan, and setter Maja Ognjenovic made quick and clever pass for her teammates to attack.

Puerto Rico tried their best in the match to step up blocking and tighten defense but with little effect. There was little way for the Puerto Rican players to change the course of the match.

“We played at a high level and with very good concentration,” said Serbia Head Coach Zoran

Terzic.

“This is the first time in the history of Women’s Volleyball, either in Serbia or the former Yugoslavia, to qualify for the Olympic Games.

“I am very, very, very happy and satisfied with the outcome. I would like to express my congratulation and thanks to our p

layers.”

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Day Four of Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament: Serbia and Japan march strongly towards final goal

Tokyo, Japan, May 21, 2008 - The fourth day of competition at the Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament ended Wednesday with Serbia and Japan moving nearer towards their final goal of booking a ticket to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Poland, meanwhile, followed closely behind the two hot favourites.

The leading volleyball teams in the standings remained unchanged. Serbia and Japan are the only two teams unbeaten with eight points, Poland are third with seven points, followed by Korea with six points, Thailand, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico with five, and Kazakhstan four.

The Serbs, 2006 World Championship bronze medal winner, followed their sweep of Kazakhstan, Dominican Republic and Korea with another convincing display, beating Thailand 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-15) in the first match. The Serbs looked impressive from the start, putting a lot of pressure on their opponents’ defence.

The Thais, with an average height of 1.76 meters compared with that of 1.85 for the Serbs, found it very difficult to withstand mighty spiking by the 1.94-metre Jelene Nikolic and 1.96 Jovana Brakocevic.

With their fourth win, Serbia now has a perfect win-loss record while Thailand dropped to 1-3.

“We were well prepared and the match was much easier than we expected. We only met with some difficulties in the second set,” said Zoran Terzin, Serbia Volleyball Head Coach. “Now we are in a good situation. If we beat Puerto Rico tomorrow, we are almost certain to go to Beijing.”

Thailand Head Volleyball Coach Nataphon Srisamutak said:

“We had problems in receiving. The goal for us is to do our best. We will play against other Asian teams and hope to beat them."

Thailand will meet Korea on May 24 and Kazakhstan on May 25 in the tournament that will also determine the Asian Olympic ticket to Beijing.

Asian champion and eighth-ranked Japan beat Dominican Republic for their fourth-straight victory in the last match of the day Wednesday. After a bright start in the first set, Japan faded in the second but they regrouped in time to come home in style 25-21, 18-25, 25-16, 25-21. The four-set victory in front of a full house improved their win-loss record to 4-0. The Dominicans caused many problems in the match, but ultimately could not stop their opponents and dropped to 1-3.

Head Volleyball Coaches comment on Today's Volleyball Games

“We played how we have practised and played hard, but we won finally. We are establishing our own team style and every time we play against a different type of team we need to remind ourselves of our own style,” said Japanese Head Volleyball Coach Shoichi Yanagimoto.

/strong>

“Today’s match was undoubtedly our worst so far, especially our reception,” said Dominican Head Volleyball Coach Beato Miguel Cruz. “We could not put our strategy into practice. The cause of our defeat is the mistakes in the setter’s distribution.”

The match between Poland and Korea was a one-sided game, almost the same as the first match between Serbia and Thailand. Poland, considered one of the favourites to qualify for Beijing, had too much height and power for the Asian representatives. The Korean showing was unexpected compared with their usual resilience and never-give-up fighting spirit. Blocked attacks, sloppy serves and broken defence from the Koreans made it all too easy for the Polish team to finish the match 25-16, 25-19, 25-16 in just 70 minutes.

Poland Head Volleyball Coach Marco Bonitta was very satisfied with the match:

“We knew that against Korea we needed to play at our best level, and we have done that. We have got used to the Asian style of Volleyball.

”

Polish libero Mariola Zenik said he was surprised by his opponents: “In the past the matches with Korea were very difficult, but today we won easier than we expected.”

Korean Head Volleyball Coach Lee Jung-Chul said:

“The remaining three matches are very important and we have to do our best in each match so as to get the ticket to the Olympic Games."

Puerto Rico and Kazakhstan, looking for their first win after three straight defeats, both started the second match with determination. The NORCECA team, with the outstanding Aurea Cruz who scored a game-high 26 points including five aces, clinched the first and second sets. Kazakhstan rebounded twice to force the game into the tiebreaker with a block by Natalya Zhukova in the fourth set winning the set point. But Puerto Rico eventually wore down Kazakhstan 3-2 (25-19, 15-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-13) and brought home their first win at the tournament.

“We had to win the m

atch, “said Juan Carlos Nunez, Head Volleyball Coach of Puerto Rico.

“Our service and defense are good but blocks did not work. Now we have to work on the setting and attack."

Kazakhstan Head Volleyball Coach Viktor Zhuravlev was very disappointed with the result:

“We wanted to win too much today and consequently made many stupid mistakes. But I think we still have a chance to go to the Olympics, so we cannot lose the next three games."

Italy, Brazil, USA, Algeria, Cuba, Russia and Venezuela have already booked their tickets to Beijing. China as host country automatically qualifies.

The women’s volleyball tournament will have a rest day on Thursday, May 22, and resumes on Friday.

Taking part in the Women’s World Volleyball Olympic Qualification Tournament are host Japan, Thailand, Korea, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Poland, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. The tournament doubles as the Asian Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament and so the best three teams plus the best Asian team (even if any of the best three teams are Asians) will book their tickets to Beijing.

Volleyball game results on Day Four: Thailand vs. Serbia 0-3 (16-25, 23-25, 15-25) Puerto Rico vs. Kazakhstan 3-2 (25-19, 15-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-13) Korea vs. Poland 0-3 (16-25, 19-25, 16-25) Dominican Republic vs. Japan 1-3 (21-25, 25-18, 16-25, 21-25)

Standings (two points for victory, one for loss): Serbia and Japan: 8 points Poland: 7 points Korea: 6 points Thailand, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico: 5 points Kazakhstan: 4 points

Schedule for volleyball games on May 23: Kazakhstan vs. Dominican Republic Serbia vs. Puerto Rico Poland vs. Thailand Japan vs. Korea

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Day Three of Women's Volleyball World Olympic Qualification Tournament: Thailand secures first win; Serbia, Japan stay unbeaten

Tokyo, Japan, May 20, 2008 - The third day of the Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament to determine the last four tickets to the Beijing Olympics passed without surprise as all the big teams outclassed their opponents. Serbia easily blanked Korea 3-0, Japan had no problem beating Kazakhstan in the Asian “derby” in straight sets, and Poland continued their strong comeback with a 3-1 win over Dominican Republic. Thailand, meanwhile, notched their first victory of the tournament, crushing Puerto Rico 3-0.

After three days of matches, Japan and Serbia are now leading the standings with six points, followed by Korea and Poland with five points, Dominican Republic and Thailand have four points and Puerto Rico and Kazakhstan three points.

Both Thailand and Puerto Rico entered Tuesday’s first match without a single victory, so one of them was going to get off the mark. And it was the Thais who finally found some form, posting their first victory after two consecutive defeats by overcoming Puerto Rico 25-20, 25-20, 25-20.

With the win, the Asian team improved its win-loss record to 1-2 and dropped Puerto Rico to 0-3. In facing taller players, the Thais played a quick and clever game with a combination of fast attack, blocks and drops, beating strong hits from big hitters Karina Ocasio and Aurea Cruz. Unforced errors in the crucial stage also cost Puerto Rico dearly, sending them to their third straight defeat.

“We could play as we wanted and carried out everything we had practiced,” said Thai captain Wilavan Apinyapong.

Thai Head Volleyball Coach Nataphon Srisamutnak was very satisfied with their first win at the tournament.

“Our team played very well and made fewer mistakes than previous matches,” said Sris

amutnak.

Puerto Rico Head Women’s Volleyball Coach Juan Carlos Nunez gave two reasons for his team’s defeat.

“We did not concentrate enough and it is very difficult to maintain concentration,” said Nunez. “The Thais have many attack combinations. We did not do well with our blocks.”

Serbia, third place at the 2006 FIVB World Championship, stopped Korea’s winning run in Tuesday’s second match and maintained their perfect start to the Women’s Olympic qualifier by crushing the Asians in straight sets 25-23, 25-23, 25-19. With the third win, Serbia maintained a perfect win-loss record while Korea’s record dropped to 2-1. The Serbs were made to work hard for much of the three-set victory over Korea, especially in the first two sets.

The Koreans caught the Serbs by surprise, jumping to an early lead in the first two sets. But with devastating spikes and powerful blocks the Serbs chased back and clinched the next two sets. In the third set, the Serbs seemed to further break the spirited resistance of the Koreans, pulling away to an easy finish.

“The Asian teams play a different volleyball from Europe, they play faster,” said Serbia Head Coach Zoran Terzic. “We try to make our job easier with serving. On the other hand we made too many mistakes, especially in blocking. The main reason for our victory is our mentality is at a high level. We are now one more step to Beijing and I hope to finish the job in the next two games.”

Said Korean Head Volleyball Coach Jung-Chul Lee:

“Our concentration did not last through to the third set. The biggest problem for our team is that we do not have a lot of depth on the bench.”

In the third match of the day, two-time European Champions Poland bounced back strongly after their opening-day defeat at the hands of hosts Japan by beating a spirited Dominican Republic in four sets (23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-23) to register their second win after three of their seven matches. The match, which lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes, was much closer than the scores suggested. Poland’s Mogentale Glinka scored a total of 11 points, the highest in the match, and was really cutting loose, finding space all over the court.

“She is one of the best (volleyball) players in the world,” Poland’s Head Coach Marco Bonitta said of Glinka. “She has injuries before coming to Japan. She played not good today, but better. She will improve and she is very important

for us.

“We were not in the best condition and it is a difficult match and we know we must do the best to win. Now we can look ahead (and that’s a good thing).”

Said Dominican Republic Head Volleyball Coach Beato Miguel Cruz:

“(The players) are becoming better at teamwork and so I am satisfied.”

Winless Kazakhstan faced unbeaten host Japan in the last match of the day and the Asian Champion showed no mercy in condemning Kazakhstan to a third straight defeat, winning 25-21, 33-31, 25-21 in the Asian “derby” in front of another large and noisy crowd.

Japan met some trouble in the first and second set. Kazakhstan led the first set 21-20 and in the second the guest team also had a three-point lead. In a frantic end to the second set, Kazakhstan missed six points before Japan took the set 33-31 on their fourth set point.

“I thought we must concentrate otherwise it would be a very difficult match. It was very hard to control Kazakhstan captain as she just never gave up,” said Japan Head Volleyball Coach Shoichi Yanagimoto.

Said Japan captain Yoshie Takeshita: “I think the second set was everything today. We should manage each match by match, starting again tomorrow.”

Kazakhstan Head Volleyball Coach Viktor Zhuravlev said:

“Today’s game result was very clear. As I told everyone in the press conference the other day, our team had prepared very well. The team did not play their best game, but I think the team condition is getting better. We have hopes to win our nex

t game.”

Italy, Brazil, USA, Algeria, Cuba and Venezuela have already booked their tickets through the 2007 FIVB World Cup or Continental Qualification Tournament while China has qualified as the host country.

The Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournaments includes eight teams: host Japan, Korea, Thailand and Kazakhstan (best ranked teams at Asian Continental Championship), Serbia and Poland (best world ranked from CEV), Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (best ranked teams from NORCECA).

The round-robin volleyball tournament from May 17-25 also double as the Asian Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament and so the best three teams plus the best Asian team (even if any of the best three teams as Asians) will book their tickets to Beijing.

Volleyball game results on Day Three: Thailand vs. Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20) Serbia vs. Korea 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-19) Poland vs. Dominican Republic 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 ) Japan vs. Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-21, 33-31, 25-21)

Standings (two points for victory, one for loss): Japan and Serbia: 6 points Poland and Korea: 5 points Dominican Republic and Thailand: 4 points Kazakhstan and Puerto Rico: 3 points

Volleyball game schedule for May 21: Thailand vs. Serbia Puerto Rico vs. Kazakhstan Korea vs. Poland Dominican Republic vs. Japan

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Tokyo ready to go ahead of Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament

Tokyo Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament

Tokyo, Japan, May 15, 2008 – Eight teams from three continents are arriving in Tokyo for the Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament which is scheduled to start on May 17, while the FIVB Control Committee (CC) and event’s National Operation Committee (NOC) are making careful and extensive inspections to the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium competition hall, teams’ hotel, training halls and other facilities so as to make certain the event will run smoothly.

All participating teams are already or have been training in training camps dotted around Japan. The Polish team arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday and Serbia, Japan, Puerto Rico, Dominican, Korea, Thailand and Kazakhstan are expected to arrive Thursday.

CC President Abdelhadi Ghzali, who made his inspection to the competition immediately after his arrival Wednesday, said at the second CC and NOC joint meeting Thursday morning that he is satisfied with the preparations, saying the organizing committee had done excellent preparation work and has no problems in hosting the event because of their expertise and experience in hosting such a tournament.

“

We are determined to keep Volleyball flying and this tournament is part of the continued process to keep Volleyball developing,” said Ghzali. “The Women’s World Olympic Tournament in one of the most important competitions, one that is drawing strong teams from three continents. Through it, the participating teams are going to make friends, promote Volleyball and further the image of th

e FIVB.”

FIVB CC members expressed their satisfaction with tournament preparation. FIVB Referee Delegate Thomas Blue said he believed the competition hall is ready for competition.

NOC Executive Tournament Manager Katsumi Wakao said: “After one month of preparations things are going smoothly and we are ready for the tournament.”

Wakao also stressed the importance of television and media coverage for the success of the event, adding that host TV has arranged for allmatches involving Japan to be televised live nationwide and that TV rights have been sold to other countries.

The press centre in the competition hall has prepared more than 100 seats for journalists in the press working area where facilities including power supply, internet, phones, fax machines, printers are ready. In the press conference room there are 18 tables with 54 seats.

The General Technical Meeting will take place tomorrow noon at the Tokyo Prince Hotel where the teams are staying. After this session, there will be a press conference with all eight coaches of the participating teams.

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Day Two of Women's World Olympic Qualification Volleyball Tournament: Serbia, Korea, Japan remain unbeaten

Tokyo, Japan, May 18, 2008 – The Women's World Olympic Volleyball Qualification Tournament entered its second day with four matches in Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Sunday. Host Japan, Korea and Serbia remained unbeaten and posted their second victories. Poland overpowered Kazakhstan to clinch their first win after being beaten by Japan in the first match while Kazakhstan and Thailand suffered their second consecutive defeats, making their bid to take a ticket for the Beijing Olympic Games more difficult.

The second day started with Serbia meeting Dominican Republic. Both teams took their first match yesterday and they had to work hard to rally from the first set down to beat the Dominican Republic in a rematch from the 2007 World Cup where the Serbs downed the same opponents in straight sets. However, the Dominicans could take much satisfaction from their fighting display against the World Championship bronze medal winners, and they even missed one set point in the second set that would have given them a 2-0 lead.

Serbia played steady Volleyball to breeze past an error plagued team from NORCECA 3-1 (23-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-20). The Dominican players made a total of 42 errors compared with only 17 from their opponents. This win improved Serbia’s win-loss record to 2-0, dropping Dominican Republic to 1-1 after their win over Thailand the previous day.

Serbia's Head Volleyball Coach Zoran Terzic said: “The most important reason for our win is the Dominican players made so many mistakes, not because we played well.”

The first battle between Asians ended with Korea triumphing over their regional rival Thailand in a hard-fought, 130-minute encounter 25-20, 28-26, 14-25, 21-25, 18-16 in the second match of the day. The Koreans also avenged their straight-sets defeat to Thailand at last year's Asian Women’s Championship. The Koreans had more power and height than the Thai national team, which has been trying in recent years to add power and height to follow the worldwide trend in women’s Volleyball.

The win improved the win-loss record to 2-0. Korea won the first two sets, but as captain Kim Sa-Nee stressed: “We lost our concentration and the game become difficult.” The match had to be forced into the tiebreak. However, Korea was lucky enough to save two match points and won on their third one in the fifth set to seal the match.

Thailand Head Volleyball Coach Srisamutnak Nataphon said:

“I want to thank my team for doing everything I could expect. We had a number of chances to win but our team stopped playing their

best.”

Poland put Saturday’s defeat to Japan behind them, clinching their first win. Poland Head Volleyball Coach Marco Bonitta said:

"Yesterday we had a difficult match against Japan and lost it. I am very happy to win

today."

The Poles, sixth ranked in the world, proved too tough and too experienced for the 16th ranked Asian team and stunned Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-17) in just 60 minutes for their first victory. The Polish volleyball team improved their win-loss record to 1-1 and dropped Kazakhstan to 0-2 after they lost to Serbia the previous day.

“Today we did not make a lot of mistakes like yesterday," said Bonitta. "This is the right way t

o play.”

The Kazakhstan Head Volleyball Coach admitted that his team is not at the top world level.

“We need some time to practice and get stronger in order to win. A lack of experience and playing too hard led to mistakes, especially in rece

ption.”

In the final encounter between Japan and Puerto Rico, the host team continued their winning momentum with the partisan support from the 10,000 boisterous fans. The hosts had a great win yesterday over hot favorite Poland, but today they were given a real fight by the lower-ranked Puerto Rico and had to show all their energy to thrash the 19th ranked opponents, who lost to Korea the previous day. Japan won the first two sets but lost the third and in the fourth set Japan took it on their second match point 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 17-25, 26-24), improving their win-loss record to 2-0. Japan’s Head Volleyball Coach Shoichi Yanagimoto said:

“It was good to win the match but we still have things to improve for the coming matches. I think it would be very hard to go to the Ol

ympics.”

Puerto Rico Head Volleyball Coach Juan Carlos Nunez said:

“Japan team is very good, especially the middle blockers who gave us pr

essure."

The Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournaments has eight teams competing: host Japan, Korea, Thailand and Kazakhstan (best ranked teams at Asian Continental Championship), Serbia and Poland (best world ranked from CEV), Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (best ranked teams from NORCECA).

The round-robin tournament from May 17-25 also doubles as the Asian Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament and so the best three teams plus the best Asian team (even if any of the best three teams as Asians) will book their tickets to Beijing.

The teams will have a rest day on May 19 and competition resumes on Thursday, May 20.

Volleyball game results on the second day: Dominican Republic vs. Serbia 1-3 (25-23, 25-27, 21-25, 20-25) Korea vs. Thailand 3-2 (25-20, 28-26, 14-25, 21-25, 18-16) Kazakhstan vs. Poland 0-3 (20-25, 16-25, 19-25) Puerto Rico vs. Japan 1-3 (20-25, 18-25, 25-17, 24-26)

Volleyball team Standings (two points for victory, one for loss)

Japan, Serbia, Korea 4 points, Poland, Dominican Republic 3 points, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Puerto Rico 2 points.

Volleyball games scheduled for May 20:

Thailand vs. Puerto Rico

Serbia vs. Korea

Poland vs. Dominican Republic

Japan vs. Kazakhstan

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

The best Volleyball Coaches in the world talk about Day One of Women's World Olympic Qualifications in Japan

Tokyo, Japan, May 17, 2008 – The big battle to determine the last four tickets to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games started on Saturday at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. The first day saw four Asian teams take on two from Europe and two from NORCECA, respectively, with favourites Serbia beating Kazakhstan, Dominican Republic downing Thailand and Korea taking over Puerto Rico. But the most exciting and tense match was when Asian Champion hosts Japan brushed aside two-times European Champions Poland in the last match of the day.

The round-robin tournament also doubles up as the Asian Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament and so the best three teams plus the best Asian team (even if any of the best three teams are Asians) will book the last four berths in the Volleyball Tournament of the Olympic Games.

Host Japan is joined by Thailand, Korea, Kazakhstan (best-ranked teams at the 2007 Asian Volleyball Championship), Serbia and Poland (beat-ranked teams from Europe), Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (best-ranked teams from NORCECA).

Volleyball Games between Thailand vs. Dominican Republic

Thailand was swept by Dominican Republic 3-0 in the opening match of the first day. The world No. 14 Dominicans, the 11th-placed finisher at the Athens Games, beat the 18th-ranked Asians 26-24, 25-22, 26-24 but had to save set points in the first and third sets. Right from the beginning, it was clear it was a match between two teams with different styles. The smaller Thai players, whose average height is only 1.77 metres, tried to take control with their well-worked combinations and court craft while the much taller Dominican girls packed more power with spikes and blocks. In the end it was the taller team that won.

Quotes from the Head Volleyball Coach of the Dominican Republic - Coach Beato Miguel Cruz

Dominican Republic Head Volleyball Coach Beato Miguel Cruz was very happy to win.

"It is very important and significant to win the first game. Asian teams like Thailand are a very difficult opponent for us because of their speed but our players could play quite well, especially on defense and blocking."

Quotes from the Head Volleyball Coach of Thailand - Coach Srisamutnak Nataphon

Thai head volleyball Coach Srisamutnak Nataphon said:

"I am satisfied with my players who played well today. We had chances to win the first and third set, but the Thai players were nervous in their first match. We also made errors, especially in the blockings. That is the reason why we missed the chances to win the

match."

Results for Volleyball games between Korea vs. Puerto Rico

In the second match of the day, playing against the 19th-ranked Puerto Rico, the lowest ranked of the eight teams taking part in the tournament, world No. 11 Korea romped home 25-22, 25-16, 21-25, 25-21. The action was fast and furious from the start, as both teams knew this was a match they must win if they were to stand a chance of qualifying for Beijing.

The Asians stormed to a 2-0 lead without meeting strong challenges. In the first set, Korea jumped to a six-point lead at 16-10 with attack and digging and led all the way to win the first set 25-22. Kim Min-Ji, who had scored four points in the first set, kept up the good work in the second. Her block on Alvarez made it 6-4 Korea, who then led 16-14 at the second TTO. Thanks to some alert net work from Yang Hyo-Jin, Korea took the set 25-16 for 2-0.

In the third set, Puerto Rico fought back gamely, with strong serving and better blocking, notably on the dangerous Kim Min-Ji. The NORCECA team made it 1-2 after taking the third set 25-21.Though Puerto Rico came out for the fourth set in a determined mood, racing into a five-point lead at 8-3, the spirited Koreans never gave up, and rallied back to win the fourth set 25-21.

Quotes from Korean Head Volleyball Coach - Coach Lee Jung-Chul

Head Volleyball Coach Lee Jung-Chul of Korea said:

"Today we were in a good mood because the serve and quick attack were working well. Puerto Rico is a tall team, so I appreciate my players for keeping their concentration during the game. The first win is very important in any tournament, and we want to keep thi

s pace."

Quotes from the Puerto Rican Head Volleyball Coach - Coach Juan Carlos

Puerto Rico Head Volleyball Coach Juan Carlos Nunez agreed that it was a very important game, but they lost in the end. They hope to control mistakes and play better for the rest of this competition.

Volleyball games between Serbia vs. Kazakhstan

World championship bronze medalist Serbia showed characteristic power as they moved past off-form Kazakhstan 3-1, winning 25-19, 25-12, 23-25, 25-14 in the third match and underlining their reputation as favourites to win Olympic ticket.

What was looking like a Serb whitewash had turned into a tense duel in the third set. A combination of more fluid spikes from Kazakhstan and mistakes from Serbia enabled the Kazakhs to take the third set, finally seeming relaxed and enjoying the game. However, with the Kazakh defence scattered and Serbian stronger attacking, the Serbs

Quotes from the Head Volleyball Coach of Serbia - Zoran Terzic<BR>

Serbia's Head Volleyball Coach Zoran Terzic said:

"Even in some other competitions the first match is usually difficult for the team. We made some mistakes today but I am satisfied with my team and the game. We played our best and hope to fight better to

morrow."

Quotes from the Kazakhstan Head Volleyball Coach - Viktor Zhurevlev

Kazakhstan Head Volleyball Coach Viktor Zhurevlev said:

"Serbia is one of the strongest teams in the world. They are a very hard team to beat, and we got too nervous to try to get one point and were not able to do what we normally do, so from now on we want to play our own game."

The volleyball game disputed between Poland vs. Japan

The eighth-ranked Japan delighted a packed house and made an impressive start in their bid to win a berth in the Olympic Games by beating world No. 9 Poland 3-1 (25-20, 27-25, 19-25, 25-17). Japan's superior team work, slicker combination and tight defense paved the way for a comfortable win, which Japan deserved to get.

Polish Head volleyball Coach Marco Bonitta was not happy with the defeat: "Today we played so bad, especially in serve and in counter-attack. We began with mistakes in serve. But we played against a Japan team that played so good in defense and counter-attack. We must go ahead because we have six matches."

Head coach of Japan Shoichi Yanagimoto was very excited:

"For me this is my second challenge for OQT, so I and my team were a little nervous, but the biggest factor of this win was our mindset that really wanted to get a ticket to the Olympics. Over some hard practice we could come together as a national team and through this competition the teamwork will be the most important thing

to win."

The Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament will continue tomorrow with four matches in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

First Day Volleyball Game Results:

Thailand vs. Dominican Republic 0-3 (24-26, 22-25, 24-26)

Korea vs. Puerto Rico 3-1 (25-22, 25-16, 21-25, 25-21)

Serbia vs. Kazakhstan 3-1 ((25-19, 25-12, 23-25, 25-14)

Poland vs. Japan 1-3 (20-25, 25-27, 25-19, 17-25)

The schedule for volleyball games on Day Two:

Dominican Republic vs. Serbia

Korea vs. Thailand

Kazakhstan vs. Poland

Puerto Rico vs. Japan

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.