CAGUAS, Puerto Rico – Canada defeated Jamaica in straight sets Tuesday in the opening match of the NORCECA third-round women’s world volleyball championship qualification tournament.
Set scores were 26-24, 25-17 and 25-10.
Tiffany Dodds had 15 points for Canada including 11 kills, three blocks and one ace, and Tammy Mahon also contributed 14 points off of her 12 kills and 2 blocks.
The more experienced Canadians looked sloppy at times, giving up 22 points off errors compared to 16 for Jamaica.
“It’s the same as many matches so far this year, we started very, very slow in the first set, waiting for Jamaica to make mistakes instead of taking action on our side of the court,” said Canadian coach Arnd Ludwig. “Jamaica fought hard for every ball and we didn’t. The third set was what I expected from our team, but we have to work and focus to improve on the starts to our matches.”
Canada, ranked 23rd in the world, is competing in the tournament along with Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the Bahamas.
One berth for the 2010 world championships will be awarded to the winner of the event, while the second place team will compete in a final play-off tournament at the end of August.
