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Olympic Volleyball Recaps: 20 July - Day 1


Women's Preliminaries/Pool A, Pool B

CHN vs. NED; RUS vs. GER

China and Russian Federation breeze to first-round victories: The People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation each recorded 3-0 opening round victories in women's volleyball pool play action at the Omni Coliseum on Saturday. In pool A, China used a strong blocking and defensive effort to defeat the Netherlands 15-10, 15-5, 15-7. SUN Ye paced China with 17 kills and WANG Yi added 15. Henriette WEERSING led the Netherlands with a match-high 21 kills. Russia rolled to a surprisingly easy 15-5, 15-10, 15-7 victory over Germany in pool B play. Irina ILCHENKO led Russia with 23 kills and Evguenia ARTAMONOVA added 18. Germany, which had defeated Russia 3-2 in the European Zone qualifier in February, was led by Nancy CELIS with 16 kills and one block.

Final Score: CHN 15-10, 15-5, 15-7; RUS 15-5, 15-10, 15-7

See story.

"I was pleased with the match and with the result," said Russian head coach Nikolai KARPOL. "We were prepared today."


Women's Preliminaries/Pool B, Pool A

CUB vs. CAN; KOR vs. JPN

Cuba, Korea Record First Round Sweeps: Cuba, one of the Olympic Games women's volleyball medal favorites, opened pool B play with a 15-8, 15-8, 15-5 victory over Canada at the University of Georgia on Saturday. Also in Athens, Korea defeated a stubborn Japanese team 15-10, 15-12, 15-10.

Cuba, which returns 9 of 12 players from its 1992 gold medal winning team, hit .319 for the match while limiting Canada to an .065 attack percentage.

Korea, which participates in pool A, won its opening match behind a clutch offensive attack and timely defense. All three games were back-and-forth affairs until Korea pulled away in the end. Final Score: CUB def. CAN 15-8, 15-8, 15-5; KOR def. JPN f15-10, 15-12, 15-10


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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