2006 World Championships   More World Championship news       Tournament info: Puerto Rico

USA clinch No. 1 seed to set up Mexico semifinal

Caguas, Puerto Rico, August 17, 2005 – The USA women’s national team clinched the top seed for the FIVB Women’s World Championship second round tournament (NORCECA D) semifinals in Caguas after posting a 3-1 win over Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

Tayyiba Haneef and Nancy Metcalf each scored a match-high 17 points in the 25-14, 23-25, 25-17, 25-20 victory for the United States, who finished pool play with a perfect 4-0 record.

Haneef had 15 kills and two service aces while Metcalf - the tournament’s leading scorer with 63 points - added 12 kills, three aces and two blocks for Team USA, who will now play fourth-seeded Mexico in the tournament semifinals on Thursday.

Shannon Torregrosa scored 16 points and Aury Cruz added 11 points to lead Puerto Rico (3-1), who earned the No. 2 seed for the semifinals. Puerto Rico will now play No. 3 Canada in Thursday’s semifinals.

Wednesday’s other match saw Canada beat Barbados 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-7) to claim third spot ahead of Mexico, who had the bye, while Barbados finished fifth.

The top three finishers earn trips to the 2006 World Championships in Japan as members of the NORCECA zone.

Five other teams – Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Jamaica – will vie for three additional NORCECA slots for the final round at the “NORCECA E” World Championship second round tournament in Santo Domingo from Aug. 24-28.

In all, 24 teams will compete at the 2006 World Championships from Nov. 16-Dec. 3 – seven from Europe, six from NORCECA, four from Asia, three from Africa, two from South America, the host team (Japan) and the 2002 champion (Italy).


Final Pool Standings

1-USA (4-0)
2-Puerto Rico (3-1)
3-Canada (2-2)
4-Mexico (1-3)
5-Barbados (0-4)