Canada grabs semi-final spot at 2012 NORCECA Olympic Qualifiers – Volleyball news
Canada stamped a 3-0 win over Cuba in the last pool-play match on Wednesday and qualified for the influential semi-finals of the 2012 NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament.
The Caribbean team started off the match with an ambition of victory but too many unforced errors led them to the loss. Canadian squad secured the opening set of the match 25-21 and followed it up with 25-17 and 25-21 in the following two flights. Canada
remained undefeated in the preliminary round-robin and emerged as top team in Pool B of the tournament.
The Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California provided the backdrop for the match and recorded the presence of 1,200 spectators.
Canada’s Gavin Schmitt displayed a consistent performance and ended with match-high 21 points. Equally talented and swift Frederic Winters also played his role in the game. He added 16 points and contributed to the overall success of Canadian team.
On the other hand, Fernando Hernandez struggled for the better status of Cuba. He chipped in 13 points, while his teammates Rolando Cepeda and Wilfredo Leon registered nine points each.
Canada opened with swift serves by Gavin and went up on the scoreboard. Cuban team had experienced players and returned many of the Canadian serves. The back ‘n’ forth action continued and players on both sides showed their game skills. The situation remained
undecided until the second technical timeout. Thereafter Canadian team played fast and inched its way to first-set win at 25-21.
In the second set of the match, Cuba seemed a little under pressure and committed quite a few attack errors. On contrary, Canada remained remarkably consistent and took full advantage of the Cuban slip-ups. Cuba’s performance experienced a big blow in second
set, while Canada improved to 2-0 by winning the frame.
Team Canada was totally shaped up to finish the match in third set. They put up a spirited effort and put an end to third set with four-point margin, 25-21. Canada pulled off success in the match and settled for the semis.
“We’re obviously happy with the result. We only have one chance for this. Now we’ll focus on the semi-final. This Cuban team is much younger than the Cuban teams we’ve played in the past. I thought we had very few errors and our serving was really good,”
said the winning coach Glenn Hoag.
His Cuban counterpart Orlando Samuels stated, “Canada played very well today. They get the credit - they played well. They set well, their block and defence (were good). They played better than us. Congratulations to Canada.”
Wilfredo Leon, the Cuban skipper acknowledged that they lost the match due to too many mistakes.
According to the set formula of the competition, pool-topper Canada will now skip the quarterfinals but it will directly go into the semi-finals. However, the second and third ranked teams from both pools will contest their skills at the quarterfinals.
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