Bulgaria and Peru Group 2 & 3 leaders at World Grand Prix

Lausanne, Switzerland, June 9, 2016 – Pool B1 opened 2016 FIVB World Grand Prix Group 1 competition with victories of the hosting team Brazil over Italy and Japan over Serbia. 

In Group 3, Peru finish top with Croatia in a very close second, both teams remain undefeated after three matches. Kazakhstan and Cuba each have two wins and one defeat and are currently in third and fourth position.

The Czech Republic earned its first points of the tournament with a third match win against Canada (25-13, 25-18, 25-23). The match was the battle was between the two winless teams in Pool B2 and it was the Czech Republic who took the honours with captain Tereza Rossi contributing 15 points and Canada struggling with mistakes. 

The win places Czech Republic in sixth position in the group and Canada finish just ahead of Kenya at the bottom of the table after winning a set in the Canadians opening match against Poland. 

Peru end the first weekend top of the Group 3 standings with an unbeaten record over three matches. It was again 19-year-old wing spiker Angela Leyva who top scored for Peru as the world No. 21 team recorded its third victory with a comfortable 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-12) win over Algeria. 

After scoring 31 points against Kazakhstan in Peru’s first match, Leyva, who was the top scorer in last year's World Grand Prix Group 3, scored another 23 against Mexico in their second group match before top scoring again with 16 points against Algeria as Peru enter the second stage with maximum points.



Holding a similar unbeaten record and sitting just behind Peru in Group 3 is Croatia. Both teams dropped only one set in the opening weekend, but Peru leads the standings on point difference. Croatia ended its third match with a three set victory over Australia standing out as the superior team in to play in Bendigo. 

It was Croatian powerhitter Samanta Fabris who flexed her muscles to blast her team to the 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-12) win over Australia. Australia end the first weekend just ahead of Algeria at the bottom of the table. Australia take the edge after winning one set against Cuba, but Algeria still finding their way in transition after a huge revamp to their line-up entering the Grand Prix. 



Kazakhstan hold third place in Group 3 with two wins against Algeria and then with captain Radmila Beresneva leading her team to defeat Mexico 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 21-25, 25-23). 

Beresneva and Lizbeth Sainz were top scorers of the match, giving Mexico a difficult time with power in the attack led by Beresneva. Mexico’s one win in the preliminary round opening matches was against Algeria earned the team three points.



On the closing day of the first weekend, Cuba earned its second win beating Colombia 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-21), with Lescay Cajigel outstanding at the net. It was a strong finish for Cuba, easily the youngest team in Bendigo, Australia while Colombia continued to show many positives but struggled with consistency. 

Colombia’s Madelaynne Montano was doing much of the heavy lifting, while Zuleta Garcia was proving to be difficult to pass at the net. Cuba was without 16-year-old Melissa Vargas with a shoulder injury, and it was Rodriguez Lopez who stepped up to the plate, but Colombia had more spring in their step and had answers to all the Cuban attacks. 

Colombia’s one win against Australia places the team in a dangerous spot in the table leaving them a difficult task in the second stage of the preliminary round.