FIVB Women’s Challenger Cup: Colombia Surprises Peru; Bulgaria Wins 3-0

2018 FIVB WOMEN’S CHALLENGER CUP:

• June 20-24, 2018
• Lima, Peru

A chance at making the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League is on the line, as the winner of the 2018 FIVB Women’s Challenger Cup will move on to next year’s big event. The tournament, hosted by Peru, will work into the championship match on June 24 to culminate the action. Results, standings and more can all be seen below.

FORMAT:

• What’s on the line?
  • The winning team of the tournament will clinch a spot in the 2019 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League, replacing the lowest ranked challenger team from the 2018 tournament
• Six teams are split into two pools (three in each)
  • The six are made up of the host nation (Peru), South American qualifier (Colombia), Asian qualifier (Australia), North American qualifier (Puerto Rico) and Golden European League qualifiers (Bulgaria & Hungary)
  • The top two teams from each three-team pool will move on to the semifinals
    • Pool A#1 vs. Pool B#2 & Pool B#1 vs. Pool A#2

RESULTS:

Pool A:

• World Rankings: #26 Peru, #28 Colombia, #30 Hungary

COLOMBIA DEF. PERU 3-0

• Colombia def. Peru 3-0 (26-24, 25-12, 25-12)
• Colombia improves to 1-0; Peru falls to 0-1

These two actually met in pool play of the South American qualifier in Lima, Peru as well, with the Peruvian side coming out on top in four sets. However, because Peru was already locked into this event, Colombia also advanced on to cause another match with the top two South American teams. In the rematch though, Colombia stunned Peru in straight sets to put the home team behind the eight ball.

The two teams were nearly even in the opening game, with Clarivett Yllescas (11 points) pacing the host team, but the spread-out attack and duo of Dayana Segovia (16 points) and Amanda Coneo (16 points) pushed Colombia ahead. From there, it seemed as if the wind had left the Peruvians’ sails, and the overwhelming block (15-4) and serve (6-0 in aces) that favored Colombia became too much in each team’s opener.

Pool B:

• World Rankings: #13 Puerto Rico, #17 Bulgaria, #42 Australia

BULGARIA DEF. AUSTRALIA 3-0

• Bulgaria def. Australia 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-15)
• Bulgaria improves to 1-0; Australia falls to 0-1

The Golden European League champions continued their momentum from just a week ago and rolled through Australia in a quick three sets. In total, Bulgaria sent Australia to a must-win game two by a total score of 75-42 as they have a big clash with Puerto Rico upcoming.

The Bulgarian block was too much to handle for the Australians, as a 10-3 edge contributed to all facets of the game. That obviously effected the attack, where Bulgaria held a 35-21 edge in spikes. Not one Australian reached more than seven points either while five for Bulgaria had eight or more. Leading the balanced Bulgarian scoring was Hristina Ruseva (13 points), who led everyone in points and kills for the match.

STANDINGS:

Pool A

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Colombia	1	0	3	3	0	MAX	76	48	1.583
2	Hungary	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
3	Peru	0	1	0	0	3	0.000	48	76	0.632

Pool B

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Bulgaria	1	0	3	3	0	MAX	75	42	1.786
2	Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
3	Australia	0	1	0	0	3	0.000	42	75	0.560

Full Schedule:

Pool A:

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
20 Jun	19:00	Peru	0–3	Colombia	24–26	12–25	12–25			48–76
21 Jun	19:00	Colombia	–	Hungary	–	–	–			0–0
22 Jun	19:00	Hungary	–	Peru	–	–	–			0–0

Pool B:

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
20 Jun	17:00	Australia	0–3	Bulgaria	11–25	16–25	15–25			42–75
21 Jun	17:00	Puerto Rico	–	Australia	–	–	–			0–0
22 Jun	17:00	Bulgaria	–	Puerto Rico	–	–	–			0–0