Women’s volleyball Team Canada – featuring Roberts Creek’s Kyla Richey – beat Mexico 3-2 on Sept. 30 for the last spot in the Norceca Olympic qualification tournament to be held in January.
The game was played in front of more than 3,000 spectators at Bicentenario Auditorium in Morelia, Mexico. The game score was 22-25, 25-15, 25-17, 21-25, 15-8.
“Mexico played outstanding – they never gave up and defended very well. This is the best Mexico team I’ve seen in years,” team captain Brittney Page said.
“We focused on powering hard on our spikes to score and our passing worked out well.”
Canada was strong in blocking and attacking. Mexico forced longer rallies while performing well in defence while Canada kept a comfortable 14-7 lead.
“Players always want to perform in front of a loud crowd. It’s wonderful to see the spectators supporting their team,” Team Canada coach Arnd Ludwig said. “Our goal was to be in the pre-Olympic tournament.”
According to Ludwig, the match was really close.
“When our blocking performed better up to the half of the second set, the balance went more in our favour,” Ludwig said.
Team Canada’s top scorer was outside hitter Dana Cranston who tallied 16 points, joined by outside hitter Kyla Richey and middle blocker Jaimie Thilbeault with 15 points each.
Canada’s five-set win against Mexico put them in the semi-finals of the Norceca Women’s Continental Championship against Dominican Republic coming up in January.
