Argentina train at the Floresta Stadium, venue for their opening World Grand Prix matches
San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina, June 2, 2016 – Argentina will open their 2016 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix campaign in front of their home fans when they take on Bulgaria, Dominican Republic and Kenya at the Floresta Stadium from June 3-5.
All four teams arrived in the northern city and have been training at the venue to be ready for their first matches on Friday when the Dominican Republic take on Bulgaria and Argentina face Kenya.
Guillermo Orduna’s squad have already laid a marker for their season when they qualified for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, the first time that Argentina’s women have qualified for an Olympics.
They will start the World Grand Prix without their captain Yamila Nizetich who has a foot injury, but other star players Emilce Sosa and Yael Castiglione will be present.
Bulgaria will aim for a strong start and so build momentum for when they host the Group 2 Final Four in Plovdiv. They too will be without their captain Elitsa Vasileva, who is carrying an ankle injury, but are looking forward to seeing what impact Emiliya Nikolova and Gergana Dimitrova can make.
The Dominican Republic arrived in Argentina having missed out on qualification for Rio 2016. Nonetheless they will be match prepared having already played crucial matches this year and are looking to young star Brayelin Martinez to spark the team in the absence of injured libero Brenda Castillo.
Kenya will make their Group 2 debut after they won Group 3 in 2015 and in captain Mercy Moim they have a player who can lift her teammates at crucial points in matches.