T&T senior women’s volleyball team and powerhouse USA will serve off the 12-team 17th Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup starting from 10 am at Ricardo Arias Pavilion in the Dominican Republic on Sunday. They will be followed by a contest between Mexico and Brazil at noon.
Canada and Peru will open the afternoon session of day one at 2 pm followed by a South American duel between Argentina and Colombia.
Puerto Rico and Cuba are to battle at 6 pm with host Dominican Republic welcome Costa Rica, the representative of Central America in the annual event.
The top five ranked teams at the conclusion of the tournament will earn tickets to next year’s Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
The teams have been divided into three pools with defending champion USA playing in Pool B alongside T&T, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Pool A consists of Canada, Peru, Costa Rica and host Dominican Republic while Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia are in Pool C.
The top two ranked teams at the end of the preliminary round will advance directly to the semifinals with the pool winner with the lowest ranking will compete in the quarterfinals with the top second and third place teams.
Since 2013, USA and Dominican Republic have won the event every other year.
The USA leads the historic standings at the Pan American Cup with five gold medals, Cuba and the Dominican Republic each have won the competition four times while Brazil has three titles.
The Dominican Republic has the most medals in the history of the competition with 15—including four golds, eight silvers and three bronzes. The USA is second with 10—five golds, two silvers and three bronzes.
