Canadian women’s team has eye on title: Pan Am Cup – Volleyball news
The VI Pan American Cup Women’s Volleyball Tournament is underway in Ottawa-Gatineau region of Canada. The tournament was started off on Monday, June 13 with teams from Canada, USA, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Panama, Bahamas, and
Dominican Republic. The preliminary round-robin of the tournament ended on Wednesday, while the successful teams advanced to the quarter-finals. The final rankings of the teams will be revealed on Saturday, June 18. The Women’s Pan Am Cup will be followed
by the Men’s competitions next week.
Canada is serving as the host of the event and the National Women’s Volleyball Squad is taking full advantage of familiar conditions. The home team appeared in two matches and promptly clinched success. Under the supervision of head coach, Glenn Hoag, the
national team worked out good performances and got hold of the top position in Pool B. They opened the tournament by taking on Puerto Rico on Monday. The incredible effort of the Canadian ladies created a chance of celebration for local fans with an amazing
win. Their defencive and offencive strategies enabled them to dismiss the Puerto Rican side in straight sets. Team Canada built a score of 25-17, 25-17, and 25-17 in three consecutive sets.
The success in the opening match of the tournament proved to be a stepping stone for the Canadian team as they came up against Dominican Republic in the next fixture. The pumped-up Canadian team jumped on their opponents and once again pulled off success
in three sets. The guest team from Dominican Republic couldn’t penetrate the powerful spikes of the Canadian hitters and accepted defeat after receiving 18-25, 23-25, and 14-25.
Glenn Hoag, the head coach of Canadian team said, ‘’There are areas we showed improvement especially our serving which was very good tonight. I think it’s good for us to play another match. Mexico is a young team that can play really well.’’
The head coach of the Dominican Republic, Jacinto Campechano expressed his views after the match and stated, “The team you saw in the first and second set, that was my real team. It was a good match for our guys but we lacked concentration in the third set.’’
After finishing the preliminary round with an overall score of 2-0, Canada has now advanced to the quarter-finals, which will be held on Thursday, June 16. Canadian team will be joined by Mexico in the influential quarter-final match.
The Pan American Cup Volleyball Tournament is generally considered the first big competition of the season, where the aspiring teams from South and North America and Caribbean countries vie for next year’s edition of FIVB World Grand Prix. Brazil, Dominican
Republic, United States, Peru, Argentina, and Cuba qualified for the 2011 FIVB Grand Prix through last year’s Pan Am Cup. This year, it has ever more importance as the 2012 London Olympic Games are fast approaching. The successful teams for the Pan American
Cup will also earn qualification points for the mega Olympic Games in London.
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