News Volleyball 08/04/2015 The best of women's international volleyball on the Riviera! For its thirtieth edition, which will take place between Tuesday 26 May and Sunday 31 May 2015 at the Pierrier Multi-Sport Hall in Clarens/Montreux, the Montreux Volley Masters is once again welcoming eight of the best women's teams on the planet, including three (China, Japan and Italy) that are ranked among the top five in the world. As the surprise winners of the 2014 tournament, Germany (9th in the world) will be defending their title this May in Montreux. The Dominican Republic (6th), Turkey (ranked 11th and making only their second visit to the Riviera), and the Netherlands, one of Europe's strongest teams, will be completing the line-up. China, who will be represented this year by their under-23 team, are the reigning world champions in their category and one of the favourites to win the competition, with many of their players in Montreux expected to join the senior team in preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games. A similar prediction can be made for the players representing Japan, who are fourth in the world rankings, Italy, who finished fourth in the world championships last autumn in Milan, and Russia, the 2010 world champions. For the qualifying round, the teams will be split into two groups, with Group A consisting of China, the Dominican Republic, Russia and the Netherlands and Group B consisting of Japan, Italy, Germany and Turkey. Three matches will be played per day at 4.30 p.m., 6.30 p.m. and 9 p.m between Tuesday and Friday. The most eagerly anticipated clashes of this preliminary stage include China vs. the Dominican Republic and Italy vs. Germany on Tuesday 26 May; Turkey vs. Germany and the Dominican Republic vs. Russia on Wednesday; the Netherlands vs. Russia and Italy vs. Turkey on Thursday; and Japan vs. Italy and Russia vs. China on Friday. Saturday will be devoted to the cross-over semi-finals (played at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6.30 p.m. and 9 p.m) while the finals will take place on Sunday at 1.30 p.m. (3rd place) and 4 p.m. (1st place). To mark this thirtieth anniversary, the organisers have decided to reward volleyball fans by selling tickets for all matches, including the semi-finals and finals, at the single and symbolic price of 30 francs. To see the full programme and book tickets, visit www.volleymasters.ch. Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News