The 14,000-seat CenturyLink Center in Bossier City, Louisiana, will play host to the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Volleyball Intercontinental Olympic Qualification Tournament August 2-4. Team USA, ranked third in the world, will play host to No. 11 Argentina, No. 16 Bulgaria and No. 23 Kazakhstan. The winning team in the round-robin event earns a berth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Team USA is the only country to medal in each of the last three Olympic Games in women’s indoor volleyball. The Women’s National Team won silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2012 London Olympic Games, followed by bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
With each nation only being allowed to participate in two tournaments to qualify for the 2020 Games, this qualifier in Shreveport-Bossier City will play a critical role for Team USA’s hopes to compete in Tokyo. All three USA matches will air live on either NBC Sports Network, the Olympic Channel, or NBC.
Match Schedule (all times Central Time)
- August 2: Argentina vs. Bulgaria, 3 p.m., USA vs. Kazakhstan, 6 p.m.
- August 3: USA vs. Bulgaria, 5 p.m., Kazakhstan vs. Argentina, 8 p.m.
- August 4: USA vs. Argentina, 1 p.m., Kazakhstan vs. Bulgaria, 4 p.m.
“We are excited and thrilled that Shreveport-Bossier City will host the Olympic Qualification Tournament this summer. We look forward to every serve, spike, and dig during the competition,” said Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser. “Away from the games we encourage everyone visiting the area to dive into our cuisine, culture, and carefree joie de vivre. We know everyone will have a special time here that can be found in Only Louisiana.”
“We are thrilled to have won the rights to host this very important Olympic qualifier in the United States,” said Jamie Davis, CEO of USA Volleyball. Not only will the event be thrilling to watch, I am confident that it will deliver millions of dollars of positive economic impact to the Shreveport-Bossier City area.”
U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly said, “The USA has had far fewer opportunities to actually qualify for the Games on home court. Thank you to everyone with Shreveport-Bossier City Sports Commission, its combined communities and USA Volleyball for making this possible. We can’t wait to let it rip in Louisiana!”
Tickets to Team USA’s three matches start at $25 each and are available via Ticketmaster.