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Winnipeg’s Ashley Voth leads Canada into quarterfinals at NORCECA Championships
BAYAMON, Puerto Rico –Ashley Voth of Winnipeg celebrated her 21st birthday in grand style on Thursday at the women’s volleyball NORCECA (the North, Central and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation) championships.
The fourth year national team member started her first match of the tournament and led Canada with 12 points in a 25-20, 25-16, 25-19 victory over Trinidad and Tobago.
It was a crucial win over the Caribbean champions. The Canadians earn a berth in the quarterfinals finishing the round robin with a 1-2 record.
Voth, who hadn’t played at all in the previous two matches, garnered her 12 points on 11 spikes as well as a service ace. Team captain Tammy Mahon of Holland, Man., added six points with five spikes and one service ace while Nadine Alphonse of Montreal and Brittney Page of Vernon, B.C., had five points each.
Canadian star Tiffany Dodds of Lucky Lake, Sask., who is battling a knee injury sat out Thursday’s match and Voth capitalized on her opportunity to start with a standout performance.
“I’m just so happy we got the win after some tough losses,” said Voth, the CIS rookie of the year two years ago with the University of Manitoba. “I haven’t played a lot recently so to get in there and play the whole match was a lot of fun. I was pretty nervous as usual but I was happy I was able to contribute. Trinidad and Tobago is always a tough opponent. They are very athletic and you never know what to expect.”
After a slow start to the tournament, Canadian head coach Arnd Ludwig says his squad is quickly improving. The Canadians, ranked 23rd in the world, opened with losses to Dominican Republic and Puerto, ranked 14 and 18th internationally, in straight games. However all three games against Puerto Rico were close.
“We were pretty good yesterday (against Puerto Rico) but today I’m happy with both our performance and the result,” said Ludwig. “It took us some time to get into the match today because of the line-up changes but after that we played really well.”
Thursday’s other round robin matches are later Thursday but it appears Canada could play the U.S., in its quarterfinal. The Americans are ranked second in the world.
“What’s important for us is to keep playing better,” said Ludwig. “Our strength is blocking and if we can keep doing that well, that’ll put our next opponent under pressure.”
The quarterfinals are on Friday, the semis on Saturday and the final on Sunday.
Six of the eight countries here this week, including Canada, have qualified for next year’s world championships. This week’s champion earns a berth at the Grand Champions Cup this November in Japan.
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Canadian team roster for the women’s volleyball NORCECA Championships September 22-27 in Bayamon Puerto Rico:
Roster: Larissa Cundy, Edmonton; Samantha Loewen East St. Paul, Man.; Tiffany Dodds Lucky Lake, Sask.; Tammy Mahon Holland, Man.; Ashley Voth Winnipeg; Tonya Mokelki Weyburn, Sask; Brittney Page, Vernon, B.C.; Tasha Holness Calgary; Nadine Alphonse Montreal; Colette Meek, Sherwood Park, Alta.; Marisa Field, Kelowna, B.C.; Janie Guimond, Bécancour,Que.; Julie Young Red Deer, Alta.
For more information: Louis Daignault, Volleyball Canada, tel: (613) 824-9475.
On the web: www.volleyball.ca and www.norceca.org.
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