Trinidad and Tobago had a much better time scoring points in their second game at the Men’s NORCECA Continental Championship in Durango, Mexico. Unfortunately it was not enough as Canada won their first game of the tournament in straight sets 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-14) on Thursday.
Trinidad and Tobago held a slim edge in blocks (7-6) and committed less turnovers than Canada by a 21-28 margin. However, Canada was able to power through T&T’s defenses with a 40-17 margin in attacks. They also won the service game 8-2.
Top performer for Trinidad and Tobago was Dantaye Stewart with 9 points; 8 coming from attacks. Theodore Joel also had 5 points. Canada’s Man of the Match was Brandon Kippers with a game-high 15 points. Xander Ketrzynski provided backup with 11 points.
Head coach Gideon Dixon, on the team’s performance said, “We were stronger in the beginning and went on being less effective throughout the match. With every match we will improve because we’ve been away so long.”
Team captain Ryan Stewart on the team said, “Playing without a libero has been challenging for us, but our performance was much better than yesterday’s.” Referring to the back-row defensive specialist that the team would lean on for defensive assistance and ball-control skills, it would be difficult for any team to play without one.
Trinidad and Tobago’s next game is against Puerto Rico on Friday, 12pm local time.
Q Sports 