In the 2022 Volleyball Challenger Cup, the head volleyball coach at the University of Evansville, Fernando Morales, and fifth-year senior Alondra Vazquez, who will be representing Puerto Rico, will have the opportunity to compete in yet another international tournament starting on Friday.
The Challenger Cup is a competition that features eight teams and runs from July 28 through July 31 in Zadar, which is located in Croatia. On Friday, the Puerto Rico Women’s National Team will kick off the competition with a match against Cameroon at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time (8 p.m. local time). If the team were to win, they would be assured of a spot in one of the competitions for the medals, and they would face either France or Colombia in the competition for a spot in the championship final.
On the other half of the bracket, Belgium will begin their competition against the Czech Republic, while Croatia will take on Kazakhstan. The second round of competition will begin on Saturday, July 30, with two matches, and the medal games will take place on Sunday, July 31. The teams that come out on top of this competition will be given the opportunity to compete in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League in 2023. These teams will take the places of the challenger teams with the lowest rankings from this year’s VNL.
While Morales is the head coach of the national team, Vazquez plays on the outside hitting position for the team. They were members of the Puerto Rico team that participated in the NORCECA Final Four Qualification Tournament earlier in the summer, which took place in Mexico. One of the highlights of the competition was a win over Costa Rica.
For more information regarding the Challenger Cup, click here
