USA ready to defend the title

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 13, 2018 – The United States earned the right to defend their title as champions of the Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup after subduing a tenacious Canada 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19) in the first semifinal contest on Friday at Ricardo Arias Pavilion in Santo Domingo.

The United States recorded 21 blocks, led by seven from Chiaka Ogbogu, against 9 by the Canadian side.

Sarah Wilhite, Adora Anae and Haleigh Washington each registered 13 points for the USA squad while Aiyana Abukusomo-Whitney and Ogbogu contributed 10 and 9, respectively.

Kiera Van Ryk and Alexa Gray topped Canada’s scoring with 18 and 16 points while Autumn Bailey added 10.

Lauren Carlini, captain of United States: Canada is an amazing team. They forced us to adjust and our team responded as we came back after the second set.

Megan Cyr, captain of Canada: It is disappointing to lose. They put a lot of pressure and aggressiveness. The United States sided out well and blocked a lot of balls.

Jonathan Newman-Gonchar, coach of United States: We salute an amazing team of Canada. We knew it was going to be a challenging match. We prepared for them but they still found solutions. We came here for a purpose and tomorrow we are going for it.

Marcello Abbondanza, coach of Canada: For sure I don’t like to lose but I am happy with the performance of my team. We need to play more matches like this one. The United States team have been improving their game since day one.