LEÓN, Mexico, August 19, 2024.- Canada bounced back from losing the first set to beat Peru 3-1 (22-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-23) in the twenty first edition of the Women’s Senior Pan American Cup, being played at León and Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
Both Canada and Peru have a record of one win and one loss in Pool A of the event, which is being played at the Domo de la Feria in León.
On Tuesday, Peru (1-1) will face Colombia (2-0) at 5:00 p.m. (local time), and Canada (1-1) will play against Mexico at 8:00 p.m.
Canada finished with an advantage of 61-51 in attacks, 9-4 in blocks, and 5-4 in aces, benefiting from 34 Peruvian errors. Canada committed 23 errors.
Outside hitter Abagayle Guezen and opposite Lucy Borrowski led Canada with 18 points each. Outside hitter Jasmine Rivest contributed 15 points, and middle blocker Avery Heppell added 12 points.
Outside hitter Aixa Vigil was once again Peru’s top scorer with 14 points, while team captain Karla Ortiz finished with 13 points.
Both teams traded the lead throughout the match, but the critical moment for Canada to seal the win in four sets came when they recovered from a four-point deficit (1-5) and then came back from (2-6) with three consecutive points by middle blocker Avery Heppell. From there on, they tied several times, and Canada’s blocking was crucial in finishing ahead.
Abagayle Guezen, top scorer of Canada: “It was a really exciting game. It was good to come out on top, we were waiting for a victory and it’s awesome. I think we put a lot of service pressure on them tonight”.
Aixa Vigil, top scorer of Peru: “We were always close, but in the end, we made too many errors as a team. Canada is a strong team, and you can’t give them anything. This is just a bump in the road. We’ll keep training; the tournament is long, and we can bounce back”.