Canada celebrate their 3-1 (25-12, 25-15, 20-25, 25-14) win over Cameroon. It was Canada’s first victory after nine consecutive defeats.
Trieste, Italy, September 23, 2014 – Canada overcame Cameroon 3-1 (25-12, 25-15, 20-25, 25-14) in Tuesday’s opening Pool B match of the 2014 FIVB Women’s World Championship at PalaTrieste.
Key facts
• It is Canada’s first win over Cameroon as the teams have never met before at the World Championship.
• After nine defeats in a row Canada set their losing streak to an end.
• In 2010 the Canadians lost all five of their pool matches and as a result they finished 21st
Kyla Richey topped the winners’ scoring with 17 points. Rebecca Pavan and Lucille Charuk scored 16 and 14 points respectively. Tabitha Love and Marcelle Shanice also reached double digits.
Christelle Nana was the best scorer for Cameroon with 14 shots.
In the first set Canada run up 4-0 ahead, thanks to great kills by Pavan. At the first technical timeout, Canada already led 8-1. A great Love’s pipe took Canada to a 16-3 lead at the second technical break. A kill and a Canadian mistake brought Cameroon to 5 points. Nana rallied with a point to bring some fight to Cameroon. Canada settled their jitters with three quick points to extend their lead, 20-9 and then they managed the set until the end 25-12.
Also in the second set Canada led 5-2 but Cameroon tried to catch up. The Cameroon supporters danced in the stands but Richey killed the party with some hefty blocks at the net at the first technical time out. Jean Rene Akono called timeout at 11-4 but the situation didn’t change. Middle blocker Charuk stopped the cameroon’s spikers at 15-5. Cameroon answered with Nana’s spike but Canada jumped to 18-9. The North Americans never looked back until 25-15.
Cameroon came out of the blocks quickly in the third set with a 7-0 lead. The previously dominant presence of Love and Pavan at the net, in the third set, seemed breakable. An ace from Pavan and a point from Charuk threatened to restore parity before a flurry of points, including a spike from Laetitia Moma pushed Cameroon into a 14-8 lead. Canada scored three successive points to bring the score to 17-20 in the third set but finally Cameroon took the set 25-20.
The North Americans put a lot of pressure on Cameroon, running 6-1 ahead. A fierce kill from Love pushed Canada into a 12-6 lead. Cameroon experienced huge problems in passing and defense and the second part of the set was dominated still by Canada. They gained a comfortable 19-9 leading and came confidently to the end of the match, finishing the set 25-14 and the match 3-1.