Herrera, Argentina Begin Olympic Games on Saturday

AMES, Iowa – For Candelaria Herrera, the dream becomes a reality this weekend, as Herrera and the Argentina Women's Volleyball National Team begin competition at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Herrera and her Las Panteras teammates face a big challenge in their first match of pool play, taking on the United States Saturday evening at 9:05 p.m. Central Time. The match against the USA, and all five of Argentina's pool play matches, will be streamed on NBCOlympics.com. Argentina's full schedule can be found at the bottom of the schedule.

Argentina needs to finish in the top-4 of its six-team pool to advance to the knockout rounds, which will begin on August 4.

It has been a long road for Herrera and her Argentina teammates to get to this point. Las Panteras qualified for Tokyo 2020 at the South American Volleyball Women's Tokyo Volleyball Qualification Tournament in Colombia in January 2020, but the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the dream for a year.

Herrera, who returned to Argentina at the onset of the pandemic in April, returned to Ames in August for Iowa State's abbreviated fall volleyball schedule. Starting all 16 fall matches, Herrera posted 2.36 kills per set at a .271 hitting percentage and led ISU with 1.11 blocks per set, earning Second Team All-Big 12 honors.

Following the fall semester, Herrera decided to return to her home country and remain there in the spring to train with the national team in her efforts to make the squad for Tokyo. Despite not being with the Cyclones in the spring, she was able to still get in some volleyball, playing for Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata during the Liga Argentina Femenina season and helping her squad finish second in the league.

After being named to the squad for Tokyo on June 26, Herrera and Argentina traveled to Croatia to continue training for the Olympic Games and playing four exhibition matches against the host Croats, going 3-1. Las Panteras arrived in Sakai, Japan on July 14 for more training before moving into the Olympic Village on July 18. Earlier today, Herrera and Las Panteras were part of the Argentina delegation that took part in the Opening Ceremonies at the Japan National Stadium.

Argentina Women's Volleyball National Team Olympic Games Schedule (All Times Central)
July 24 – vs. United States, 9:05 p.m.
July 26 – vs. R.O.C., 7 p.m.
July 28 – vs. Italy, 7 p.m.
July 31 – vs. Turkey, 12:20 a.m.
Aug. 2 – vs. China, 2:25 a.m.