Long Way From Delta

It’s a long way from Delta to Nanjing China but the twin McNamara sisters are clearly putting Delta on the map when it comes to world class Volleyball.

They have pulled off an upset over the US and both Brazil and Canada have advanced to the semi-finals of the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games

The Nanjing Sports Park Complex is the host of the event and is one of the largest athletic venue projects ever completed in Asia.

The main facilities include a 60,000 seat stadium, 11,000 seat arena, natatorium, tennis center and media centre.

The Nanjing Sports Park has become the model for future sports park developments throughout China and if you search it up, you will clearly find it impressive in all areas.

Back to the game:

Brazil won a hard-fought match over South American rivals Argentina, 2-0 (26-24, 21-14), to move on to the semi-finals.

Brazil’s Ana Patricia Silva, the tallest women’s player at the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games at 6-foot-4 (193 cm), made life difficult for Argentina, recording several key blocks in the second set to inspire the Brazilians.

“We fought as equals, so we are happy,” Argentina’s Irene Varasio. “Nothing went wrong, they were just better than us.”

Lisboa has now won 17 consecutive matches, including the gold medal at the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships in Porto, Portugal.

Brazil will play the winner of Austria vs. Russia in the semi-finals on August 26.

“Right now we will rest and focus on our next match,” Ana Patricia said.

In the other quarterfinal of the afternoon session, Canada moved on by defeating their North American rivals, the United States, 2-1 (14-21, 21-18, 15-8).

“This feels amazing,” said Canada’s Megan McNamara. “We did our best to overcome our bad start.”

The McNamara twins who were Bronze medalists at the FIVB U19 World Championships, kept their composure especially after dropping the first set.

“We were pretty nervous about this match,” said Canada’s Nicole McNamara. “Once we took a timeout, we calmed down and felt better.”

The United States finish the tournament tied for fifth, so is looking at all areas of the game that they have to work on for future events.

“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Team USA’s Zana Muno. “I hate losing and this stings now, but one day we will look back at being fifth at the Youth Olympics and it will be pretty cool.”

Canada will play the winner of Germany vs. Czech Republic in the semi-finals on Tuesday.