USA is going for NORCECA Gold beating Canada in semifinals

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, October 12, 2019.- United States beat Canada 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-18) in semifinals and is going for the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship Gold at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

United States, No.2 ranked in the world, succeeded to the championship match undefeated. Canada had some big blocks, still the U.S. hitters kept the offense under control. USA waits for the winner between host Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.

The U.S. won the semifinal to Canada with a sizeable 40-25 margin in spikes, 10-7 advantage in blocks and 9-2 in service points. Both teams handed out 16 points on unforced errors.

Three U.S. players scored double-figures, with outside hitter Kim Hill leading with a match-high of 18 points, opposite Karsta Lowe tallied 12 points and outside hitter Michelle Bartsch-Hackley contributed with 10 points. On Canada´s side, outside hitter Marie-Alex Bélanger led with 8 points.

Kimberly Hill, leading scorer of United States: “Team Canada has been improving, they did a lot of good things and we just focused on our side of the net, I think we did a good job doing so. This match was a little bit slower than the previous matches, it’s different with every opponent; our game is always fast but the opponents differ and overall we handled it well. Canada challenged us in different ways, they have really good servers and they have some athletic girls with big arms that can swing tough, so we had to work on block. Whoever we play tomorrow it’s going to be tough, we’re going to bring good energy, focus on our side, try to improve USA volleyball and have fun”.

Karch Kiraly, Head Coach of United States: “We just focused on we had to do on our side and for tomorrow have to keep executed our job in each play. Canada gave everybody a chance to play and they played hard”.

Benjamin Josephson, Head Coach of Canada: “I am happy the way we competed, how we executed. For us the lesson is in the details, some really small things were missed on our side, coverage, a free ball pass or high ball set, and against a team that is really good the little things are big things. We played well in the big rallies. We can play really well when we get focused”.

Alicia Perrin, middle blocker of Canada: “I was really excited to get some big blocks; it’s probably my favorite play in volleyball because you get a point for your team while making someone else feels intimidated. It was a good opportunity to stack up against a world class team and know what kind of intensity you need at that level and what to work on to get to the Olympics. We need to get the same level of preparation and play at the same level of intensity for our last match tomorrow”.