Canada to play Argentina for fifth place

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 9, 2016 - Canada breezed past Venezuela in straight sets 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-22) and will meet Argentina on Sunday for the fifth position at the XV Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup.

Once again Shainah Joseph was the leading scorer for the Canadian side with 15 points, including 4 blocks, and the captain Lucille Charuk added 11 of her own. Desiree Glod was the best scorer of Venezuela with 8 points.

Canada led in attacks 39-31, blocks 7-4, and aces 6-2.

“Our team came out well focused and I told the players to not take the opponents easy,” said Canada’s coach Arnd Ludwig. “Somehow we lost a big lead 15-5 in the first set, and I am glad we won that one. Then we were able to control the rest of the way.”

“Many teams are showing the effect of a long tournament with many players tired,” said Venezuelan Ivan Nieto. “We used many rotations to give playing chances to some of the players.”

“After we dropped the intensity in the first set, we went back to our simple game plan of serve and attack,” said Lucille Charuk of Canada.

“Canada was more focused than the previous match and they received better and attacked more down the middle,” Glod said. “That was the difference.”