Volleyball…Beijing 2008

Poland, Germany and Italy have won the three pre qualification tournaments and will be competing in Januarys European Qualification Tournament.

See more CEV

Italy has taken care of Thailand 14,14,16. USA have beaten Peru comfortably in three 23,14,19. More games to be played today.

For those that didn’t see the game, here is a report on the final of the European Women’s Volleyball Championships, Italy 3:0 against Serbia. Also included is the bronze medal game, where Russia defeated Poland.

In presence of CEV President Mr. André Meyer, the Presidents of the Belgian and Luxembourg Volleyball Federations, Mr. Philip Berben and Peter Eichstaedt, as well as several international and national authorities, Italy celebrated their first title in European Championship history in a hard-fought final on Sunday, following their 2nd place 2001 in Varna and 2005 in Zagreb. Italy, who had won seven straight games to reach the final unbeaten, came home spectacularly 26-24, 25-18, 25-21. The Serbians held the lead at the two technical breaks in the first set, but collapsed at 23-19. More Women Sport Report

Here is a story for you…Taismary Aguero was one of the big reasons that Italy won the recent European Championships. She was even crowned the MVP for the tournament. She’s 177cm tall, and her spike reach is 322cm…wow. For anyone who hasn’t seen her, she can play. Theres one catch, she’s Cuban.

Taismary was born in 1977 in Cuba. She started playing Volleyball at the age of 8. She’s represented Cuba 350 times, winning two Olympic gold medals, in Atlanta and Sydney. She also has World Championship gold in Osaka in 1998 and two World Cup golds in 1995 and 1999, when she was named MVP and best server.

The team ready to take on the World Cup for Italy is as follows. It’s a squad of 18 and will be finalised shortly.

1 Sara Anzanello; 2 Valentina Arrighetti; 3 Paola Croce; 4 Sandra Vitez; 5 Francesca Piccinini; 6 Valentina Fiorin; 7 Martina Guiggi; 8 Jenny Barazza; 9 Manuela Secolo; 10 Paola Cardullo; 11 Serena Ortolani; 12 Taismary Aguero; 13 Francesca Ferretti; 14 Eleonora Lo Bianco; 15 Antonella Del Core; 16 Greta Cicolari; 17 Simona Gioli; 18 Giulia Rondon.

The Italians just won their first European Championship title, and qualified directly to the World Cup. They are one of the favourites for the title, behind Brazil.