SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (May 23, 2016) – Former FIU Panthers, Yarimar Rosa (06-09) and Natalia Valentin (07-10) and the Puerto Rican national volleyball team qualified for its first ever Olympic Games appearance, after defeating Kenya (25-8, 25-23, 25-15) on Sunday.
The victory earns Puerto Rico the final spot in the 12-team Rio Games, joining Brazil, China, Serbia, Russia, Argentina, United States, Cameroon, Japan, Italy, Netherlands and South Korea.
The effort was led by Rosa, three-time AVCA First-Team All-American and Puerto Rican team captain, who had six kills on 11 attempts. Rosa, arguably FIU's best volleyball player in program history, ranks first in the Panther record books in kills (2,105) and attempts (4,592), second in career hitting percentage (.296), fourth in digs (1,066) and ninth in block assists (198).
Valentin, who will also represent Puerto Rico at the 2016 Rio Games, is the all-time FIU leader in assists with 4,449; over 1,200 assists more than any other setter in program history. Valentin also ranks second all-time in digs and seventh in service aces with 1,107 and 133 respectively.
At their time at FIU together (07-09), Rosa and Valentin made two NCAA Tournament appearances, posting an overall record of 79-19 over the three-year span.
The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will take place August 5-21.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A.Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
