TIJUANA, Baja California, June 1, 2008.- Canada used the size advantage at the net to defeat Venezuela 25-20, 25-21, 25-22 with superb blocking in the first match of Pool B in the Women’s Pan American Cup. The Canadians outscored their rivals in blocking 18-0.

Tiffany Dodds and Tammy Mahon led Canada with 16 and 11 points respectively. Dayna Jansen and Ashley Voth each had four blocks. For Venezuela Jayce Andrade and Desiree Glod each scored 13 tallies. Canada improved its record to 2-1 while Venezuela fell to 0-3.

“We are taking the competition day by day,” said Mahon. “We recaptured the focus after losing last night and achieved the much needed harmony.”

“We blocked very well today and played good overall defense. Now we have to focus in our game of tomorrow against Puerto Rico,” said Naoki Miyashita, the coach of Canada.

“We will try to play better in our next matches,” said Andrade. “We have had many errors and played without concentration. We need to correct that.”