World League 2012 - Qualifications

    Portugal lose the 1st set. They kept a leading position in the two TTOs 8-5, 16-14, but finally lose. I have no access to the match but I think too many errors and bad receiption is the problem.

    Portugal - China 2025 2521 2514 2523.
    Valdir Sequeira with 28 points. Where did He play in the last season and where will He play?

    the second match between China and Portugal:


    China 3-2 Portugal (24-26, 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13)


    however, China miss World League again. Congrats to Portugal. European volleyball teams are really strong.

    Quote from Martee

    the second match between China and Portugal:


    China 3-2 Portugal (24-26, 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13)


    however, China miss World League again. Congrats to Portugal. European volleyball teams are really strong.


    Many of the national teams in Asia do not have players that go to tougher European Leagues.


    Looking at the squad list for China in the Qualifiers, 0 play outside of China.
    Japan had 1 player in the World League.
    South Korea had 0 as well in the World League.


    Can't improve in lower leagues, so they need to get guys who want to try and play overseas.

    Quote from brahmin

    Many of the national teams in Asia do not have players that go to tougher European Leagues.


    Looking at the squad list for China in the Qualifiers, 0 play outside of China.
    Japan had 1 player in the World League.
    South Korea had 0 as well in the World League.


    Can't improve in lower leagues, so they need to get guys who want to try and play overseas.

    I know it. China government has a ridiculous rule: players of foreign clubs will never qualify for national team. Only retired players are authorized to go aboard.
    I'm not surprised about our failure.

    1st match: Canada - Puerto Rico 3:1 (25:17, 25:22, 18:25, 25:23) stats


    Canada took the opening match of the final round of 2012 FIVB Volleyball World League qualifying matches on Saturday as they beat Puerto Rico 3-1 (25-17, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23) in Kingston, Ontario.


    “It was a good win for us,” Canada coach Glenn Hoag said. “Puerto Rico has a great deal of experience, they are a team that plays with a lot of heart, and they have tremendous skills. They made us play the whole time and didn’t let up. Our blocking was very good, as was our serving. Our serve reception and defense were not as good as they have been in the past few weeks, and we need to make adjustments for tomorrow’s match.”


    Canada’s dominance at the net was the determining factor, with 18 blocks, compared to Puerto Rico’s nine. Puerto Rico led in kills, 36-32, and service aces, 6-3.


    “I’m happy with the win, especially the start,” Canadi captain Fred Winters said. “We need to keep the same energy throughout the game; nothing is going to be easy. Puerto Rico is a scrappy team and returned a lot of balls. I’m very confident with the way we are playing, but we know we must remain 100% focused as things are not over yet and we still have to play a match tomorrow.”


    Canadian Gavin Schmitt, of Saskatoon, led all players with 30 points, including 23 kills, five blocks and two aces. Other notable Canadian performances included Toontje Van Lankvelt with 12 points, Fred Winters with 11 points, and Steve Brinkman with 10 points including six stuff blocks.


    “I would like to congratulate Canada on their win,” Puerto Rico coach Carlos Cardona said. “While we improved as the game went on. Our start was erratic, especially in hitting. Canada’s block hurt us quite a bit; tomorrow we will have to adjust.”


    Victor Rivera, Puerto Rico team captain, congratulated Canada on the win, and added, ”they were prepared for the match and the series. We started cold, didn’t execute very well, being down 11-2 is something that never happens. We took a long time to warm up, and they had exceptional blocking. We need to dig more balls to stop their offense. It’s obvious they want to be in the World League, we had periods of good play, but not many.”


    Ezequiel Cruz led Puerto Rico with 17 points while Juan Figueroa and Jose Rivera added 15 and 14 points apiece.


    Canada plays Puerto Rico again on Sunday with the hosts needing just two sets to qualify for next year's tournament.
    FIVB

    2nd match: Canada - Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-19) stats


    Canada secured their place in the 2012 Edition of the FIVB Volleyball World League with a decisive 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-19) win over Puerto Rico in Kingston in the final qualifying match on Sunday.


    Canadian Gavin Schmitt led all scorers with 14 points over two sets, including three crucial service aces in the first set to put Canada in the lead with a score of 16-11 at the second technical time-out.


    Before that, the match had been a very closely contested with the teams trading points before Canada took the advantage at 8-7 at the first technical time-out.


    In the second set, Canada took complete control with the big serving of Fred Winters and the net presence of Adam Simac helping extend their lead. Winters forced Puerto Rico to give up many free balls that resulted in Canadian points while Simac recorded three stuff blocks in the adding as three kills in the set as they added to their lead.


    With the World League already in their grasp, coach Glenn Hoag brought in the rest of the Canadian players to finish out the match. Canada’s offence was much more evenly spread out, with every Canadian player recording at least two points, with the exception of libero Daniel Lewis.


    Puerto Rico, missing starters Hector Soto and Angel Perez, seemed disheartened by the relentless Canadian attack. Unlike the last match, they did not have the ability to bounce back.
    FIVB