NORCECA PAN-AMERICAN CUP 2017
- June 15-25, 2017
- Lima, Peru
- Stats through June 24th
- Schedule/Results
The women of Trinidad & Tobago used a monster block to beat South American opponents Venezuela for the first time in program history on Saturday. With the win, they secured a 9th-place finish, which is their highest finish in the 16-year history of their tournament.
Meanwhile, NORCECA powerhouses Canada and Cuba advanced to play in the 5th-place match with wins over Argentina and Colombia, respectively.
9th Place Match – Trinidad & Tobago def. Venezuela 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-18)
Trinidad & Tobago made national history on Saturday with a win over Venezuela in the 9th-place match. Not only was it the first time that they’ve ever beaten Venzuela, but it was their highest finish in Pan-American Cup history.
Earlier in the tournament, Trinidad & Tobago were dominated by Canada’s Jennifer Cross in blocks. On Saturday, Sinead Jack shone the light on T&T’s own blocking game by tying Cross with 7 blocks – the highest single-match output in the tournament. Trinidad & Tobago did the same as a team, scoring 16 blocks total. That’s the second time they’ve done so this week, having put up the same total against Peru on June 19th.
That blocking performance, combined with 10 aces in 4 sets, helped over for a lot of T&T errors. They gave away 32 points, as compared to just 17 from Venezuela, but were able to overcome.
Krystle Esdelle had 18 kils en route to 21 total points for T&T. Venezuela had 14 points from Maria Jose Perez, but had just 36 kills as a team.
“Today we controlled the net and it was very difficult for Venezuela,” said T&T coach Francisco Cruz. “Also our serves were more effective than yesterday. The ninth place means that we are advancing slowly but advancing after all.”
Canada def. Argentina 3-1 (28-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19)
Another spectacular individual effort from Canadian Jennifer Cross on Saturday lifted her team to Sunday’s 5th-place match, where they will face Cuba. Argentina will see Colombia in the 7th-place event.
Cross had 7 blocks for the second time in this tournament and is the tournament’s leading blocker so far. Canada out-blocked Argentina 13-8 on the day, with Natalia Alispurua scoring 5 to keep Argentina competitive.
Opposite Shainah Joseph had 25 points for Canada and was the top scorer across all matches on Saturday. Only 5 players have had a better single-game output in the tournament, and 4 of those instances were four-set matches.
Cuba def. Colombia 3-1 (25-15, 25-22, 18-25, 25-21)
Offensive juggernaut Heidi Casanova scored 20 points to lead Cuba to a win on Saturday over Colombia and into the 5th-place match against Canada. Colombia will play Argentina for 7th.
Casanova had 17 kills and 3 blocks as Cuba out-blocked their opponents 15-10 in the match.
Neither team was very efficient offensively, with Cuba scoring on 39% of their attacks and Colombia on 36%. Colombia, however, gave away 27 points on hitting errors and another 12 on service errors (as compared to just 18 and 9 for Cuba).
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