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Guadalajara, Mexico, August 28, 2009 – Canada
scored the first win of the tournament by
defeating Dominican Republic 3-0 in the kickoff
game of the last phase of NORCECA’s Play-off,
Group I, the last qualifying tournament for the
Italy 2010 Men’s World Championship.
From early on, the size superiority of the
Canadian team was evident both blocking and
attacking leading to the victory 25-18, 25-19,
25-22.
The Canadians, who are considered the favorite
team in the tournament, had Fred Winters (12) as
their best scorer with Dallas Soonias and Too
Van Lankvelt contributing 8 points apiece. Jose
Caceres and Victor Batista both had 9 points for
Dominican Republic.
On Saturday, Canada plays against Panama, once
again in the first turn (5: 00 p.m.), while the
Dominican team will meet hosts Mexico at the Pan
American Volleyball Complex starting at 7: 00
p.m.
Glenn Hoag, coach for Canada, expressed: “We’re
very happy with our victory, the Dominicans
played very well but we need to concentrate on
tomorrow’s match.”
Jacinto Campuchano, coach for the Dominican
Republic, asserted: “Our rivals are the
favorite team for a reason. We tried to attack
them with the serve but we just couldn’t.
Tomorrow’s game is a do-or-die, and we came here
to win.”
Brock Davidiuk, captain of the Canadian team
pointed out: “It’s very important to start off
with a win and, well, I believe we had a very
complete game and we value the hard effort of
the Dominican player Batista.”
Victor Batista, captain of the Dominican team
recognized: “We had a lot of ups and downs; we
didn’t have the level or consistency that we
needed to play against a team of Canada’s
quality. I think the altitude (above 1,500
meters) affected us, the ball travels faster but
tomorrow we’ll fight for the victory.”
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