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

USA win tournament as Mexico seal third Final Round spot

Caguas, Puerto Rico, August 19, 2005 – One night after clinching a spot in the Final Round of the 2006 World Championships, USA capped a perfect week by sweeping Puerto Rico in the championship match of the 2006 Women’s World Championship second round tournament (NORCECA D) in Caguas on Friday while Mexico claimed the third Final Round ticket with a straight sets win over Canada.

Tayyiba Haneef scored a match-high 14 points and Therese Crawford added 11 points as the Americans posted dominating 25-16, 25-13, 25-18 victory to finish the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record. Haneef had 12 kills, one block and one service ace while Crawford added seven kills, two blocks and two aces for Team USA, who lost just one set during the week (18-1).

In the bronze medal match, Mexico swept Canada, 25-21, 25-15, 25-21, to capture the third World Championship berth up for grabs at the tournament.

The top three finishers at this week’s tournament in Puerto Rico (USA , Puerto Rico and Mexico) earned 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).