2018 FIVB WOMEN’S CHALLENGER CUP:
- June 20-24, 2018
- Lima, Peru
- World Rankings: #13 Puerto Rico, #17 Bulgaria, 26 Peru, #28 Colombia
- What’s on the line?
- The winning team of the tournament move on to the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, replacing the lowest ranked challenger team from the 2018 event
SEMIFINAL #1 – COLOMBIA vs. PUERTO RICO
- Start Time: 21:00 GMT/16:00 Local/17:00 Eastern Time
In the Men’s Challenger Cup, European nations fill three of the final four slots, but on the women’s side it’s three teams out of the Americas. Coming out of South America is the Colombian side, who was the runner-up in their qualification to Peru. And since the Peruvians were hosts, Colombia moved on as well. They didn’t look like a team who was given a secondary bid though, as they even upended Peru on their home court and went 2-0 in Pool A without losing a set.
The team from the NORCECA is Puerto Rico, who actually is the highest ranked world team of the Final Four. They didn’t look so good in their pool play finale to Bulgaria though, a sweep loss by a total score of 50-75. They did have their semifinal spot locked up though, and being the runner-up in Pool B meant not taking on the hosting team, Peru, in the Final Four – so it’s not the worst thing in the world. Still, they’ll need more from their star attackers in the match.
You can watch the action live below through the FIVB Volleyball Channel on YouTube:
SEMIFINAL #2 – BULGARIA vs. PERU
- Start Time: 23:00 GMT/18:00 Local/19:00 Eastern Time
Bulgaria will have their hands full as they try to move on to the championship game by downing Peru. What they’ve shown so far would say they are likely the favorite in the tournament to this point, especially after drubbing Puerto Rico in a 2-0 pool campaign. That comes after they went 7-1 combined in the Golden European League en route to a gold medal there, meaning they’ve won nine of their last 10 altogether.
After rolling through the South American qualifier, which was also at home, Peru was quite comfortable in front of their home fans. A wrench was thrown into their plans with a loss to Colombia, but they swept Hungary to earn a semifinals bid. Although they are facing a higher ranked team who did better in pool play, they are very dangerous because of that extra boost from the crowd and following a momentous win.
You can watch the action live below through the FIVB Volleyball Channel on YouTube:
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