LOS ANGELES – July 30, 2009 – The top 12 female volleyball teams from around the world will compete for the championship title in this year’s FIVB World Volleyball Grand Prix held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Teams will have to face 2008 Beijing gold medalists and defending seven-time Grand Prix champions, Brazil. The competition will also included talented teams from the United States, Russia, China and Puerto Rico. The top 5 teams from the Grand Prix, and host team Japan, will qualify for the finals that will be held in Tokyo on August 19-23. Universal Sports will provide online and television coverage of select matches beginning Friday.
COVERAGE ON UNIVERSALSPORTS.COM:
Date Event
July 31 USA VS GERMANY
Aug. 1 USA VS. PUERTO RICO Available on-demand
Aug. 2 USA VS. BRAZIL
Aug. 7 USA VS. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Available on-demand
Aug. 8 USA VS. NETHERLANDS
Aug. 9 USA VS. GERMANY Available on-demand
Aug. 14 USA VS. RUSSIA
Aug. 15 USA VS. PUERTO RICO Available on-demand
Aug. 16 USA VS. THAILAND
COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, available in 56 million homes, presents delayed coverage of the following matches of the FIVB World Volleyball Grand Prix.
Date Event
Aug 7 USA VS. GERMANY
Aug 8 USA VS. PUERTO RICO 4 – 6 p.m.
Aug 9 USA VS. BRAZIL
Aug 14 USA VS. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 4 – 6 p.m.
Aug 15 USA VS. NETHERLANDS
Aug 16 USA VS. GERMANY
Aug 21 USA VS. RUSSIA
Aug 22 USA VS. PUERTO RICO TBD
Aug 23 USA VS. THAILAND
ABOUT UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on television and online. Universal Sports is a 24-hour television channel available in 56 million television households (via DTV antenna), including 29 million digital cable homes and 7 million over-the-air homes to date. The 36 million homes represented are in 43 markets nationwide, including top markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Houston, Detroit, Tampa, Seattle, Denver and Orlando. Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit UniversalSports.tv.
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