Posted at 7:20 a.m., Thursday, November 15, 2007
Volleyball: U.S. women qualify for Beijing Olympics
Associated Press
NAGOYA, Japan — The United States qualified for the Beijing Olympics today with a win over Japan at the volleyball Women's World Cup.Logan Tom and Tayyiba Haneef-Park scored 13 points each to lead the U.S. to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-20 win over the host nation.
The Americans improved to 9-1 while Japan fell to 6-4.
"For athletes and coaches the Olympic Games is a dream," U.S. coach Lang Ping said. "I have been there as a player and a coach. Hopefully we will have a great performance there."
The tournament features 12 teams bidding for three berths at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The men's tournament will be held in Japan starting Sunday.
European champion Italy improved to 10-0 and qualified for Beijing with a 27-25, 25-19, 25-16 over Cuba.
Brazil, still with a chance to qualify, defeated Serbia 25-13, 25-14, 25-21 to improve to 8-2. Serbia dropped to 7-3.
In other matches, Poland (5-5) downed South Korea 25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 25-19. Thailand defeated Peru (1-9) 25-23, 25-22, 25-17 and the Dominican Republic (2-8) defeated winless Kenya 25-19, 25-16, 25-18.
