Beating the Odds: Dominican Republic, Serbia, Türkiye, Brazil, USA, Poland clinch women’s volleyball Olympic spots

The Dominican Republic and Serbia ruled Pool A, Türkiye and Brazil prevailed in Pool B, and USA and Poland dominated in Pool C, securing Paris 2024 berths at the Women’s Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Ningbo, Tokyo and Lodz.

The battle between 24 teams in the week-long women’s Olympic qualifier capped an unforgettable volleyball season on Sunday.

From nail-biting finishes to thrilling upsets, the tournament has been a huge success as the stars and unlikely heroes treated the fans with the most exhilarating plays and emotional moments on the court.

• Watch all the matches of the Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament on VBTV

The big winners

The Dominican Republic, Türkiye and the United States were the three big winners in their respective groups, topping the rankings table and in spectacular fashion.

The Dominican Republic beat reigning world champions Serbia and hosts China in impressive four-set victories.

The 2023 VNL and European champions Türkiye continued their unstoppable run and were the only unbeaten squad in the entire women’s qualifier, clinching the first of the six available tickets to Paris.

The United States have also guaranteed their title will continue in Paris after winning six and dropping the match against Poland.

The surprise upsets

Hosts China and Japan encountered surprise upsets in their respective pools. Apart from their loss to the Dominican Republic in Pool A, China suffered back-to-back losses to Canada and the Netherlands in tiebreakers.

Meanwhile, after having a perfect run in the first three days of competition, Japan got their first loss in the hands of eventual Pool B winners Türkiye, before bowing out of a five-set thriller against two-time Olympic gold medalists Brazil.

Italy had a similar fate in Pool C. They won their first three encounters, before losing to the United States in four sets. However, the Italians managed to recover with a straight-set win against Germany, but crashed out when they met hosts Poland on the final day.

The hard-hitters and top defenders

The top scorers of each winning team are Magdalena Stysiak of Poland, Brayelin Martinez of the Dominican Republic, Tijana Boskovic of Serbia, Melissa Vargas of Türkiye, Gabi Guimaraes of Brazil and Jordan Thompson of the United States.

Stysiak led all scorers and attackers with a total of 156 points, which consists of 133 attacks, 21 blocks and two aces. Martinez comes in second place with a total of 141 markers, including 127 kills, 10 stuff blocks and four service winners.

Brenda Castillo of the Dominican Republic showed masterclass defense, digging 127 of her opponents’ attacks and posting a 76 per cent success rate.

USA’s Kelsey Robinson outclassed Poland libero Maria Stenzel in serve-reception, averaging 8.86 per match.

The men’s Olympic qualifier tournaments in Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Xi’An are next. Catch all the action on VBTV from September 30 to October 8.

Quick links:
FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifiers
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