Canadian coach wonders about Olympic volleyball qualification route

Canadian women's volleyball coach Arnd Ludwig finds himself in an unusual position going into this week's NORCECA Olympic qualification tournament in Lincoln, Neb.

With the world No. 1 Americans in the four-team field and Canada the lowest-ranked entry, winning the event — which carries with it Olympic qualification — seems improbable. But both the second-place and third-place teams get another crack at an Olympic berth at subsequent tournaments.

And that's where it gets interesting.

"Actually it's an advantage to finish third, because you get easier opponents (at a) tournament that you will host," Ludwig explained Tuesday early into a 10-hour bus trip from Winnipeg to Lincoln.

"It's weird," added the German native. "You want to finish third instead of second and I don't think that's the right thing. It should be if you finish second, you get an advantage and not getting punished for being second."

The second-place finisher goes to an eight-country tournament with more Olympic berths (four) on the line but with a tougher field than the event where the third-place team will end up (four countries, one Olympic berth).

Canada, ranked 17th in the world, opens Thursday against the powerful Americans at the Pinnacle Bank Arena before taking on the seventh-ranked Dominican Republic on Friday and No. 16 Puerto Rico on Saturday.

The tournament winner will join Olympic host Brazil (No. 3 in the world), World Cup winner China (No. 2) and World Cup runner-up Serbia (No. 6) in the 12-country field in Rio de Janeiro this summer.

The winners of similar continental qualifying tournaments in Europe, Africa and South America will also book their ticket to the Summer Games.

The NORCECA runner-up will move on to a World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Japan that doubles as the Asian Continental Qualification event. The competition will also feature four teams from Asia, the second- and third-place finisher at the European qualifying tournament and the runner-up from the South American qualifier.

The top three teams plus the highest-placed Asian team will qualify for Rio.

The third-place finisher at the NORCECA qualifier moves on to a four-team tournament that will feature the third-place team from South America and the second- and third-place finishers from Africa. Only the tournament winner will advance to Rio.

Both of the events are scheduled for the end of May.

"For us, it's important to get into the next round," Ludwig said. "It will be very hard for us to beat the U.S. who are one of the best if not the best team in the world right now.

"We want to keep in the race for Rio so we want to finish second or third."

The Americans went 41-6 in 2015, just missing out on Olympic qualification when they finished third at the World Cup.

The 14-woman Canadian team is captained by eight-year veteran Brittney Page of Vernon, B.C. Eight of the women play professionally in Europe.

Ludwig says his team is a mix of youth and experience that is still growing as a squad.

"That's exciting," he said. "If we can keep that team together, or the core of that team, for another four years they will be very good internationally."

The four teams at the Nebraska tournament advanced out of the NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation) Continental Championship in October in Mexico where the U.S. finished first, ahead of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Canada.

The NORCECA men's qualifying tournament runs Friday through Sunday in Edmonton with No. 10 Canada, No. 15 Cuba No. 22 Puerto Rico and No. 24 Mexico taking part.