Last-place Thailand hands Canadian women 2nd straight sweep in Volleyball Nations League
Canada posts 22 unforced errors en route to 4th loss in a row in Rimini, Italy
Canada lost its fourth consecutive women's volleyball match and second in a row by sweep, falling 25-16, 25-17, 25-17 to last-place Thailand on Saturday in Rimini, Italy.
Thailand dominated the one-hour 40-minute Volleyball Nations League match from the outset on the way to its second victory in 14 matches while 14th-place Canada, which saw its record drop to 3-11, continues to be plagued by poor service reception and struggles at the service line.
"Thailand is such a resilient team," Canada setter Brie King told Volleyball World. "Their serving pressure was really strong and different from all the teams we have played so far. I think they put us in a lot of trouble.
"They played so quick that sometimes I think we stayed a little bit behind. We just felt that they were putting a constant pressure on us."
WATCH | Thailand deals Canada 11th loss in 14 matches:
Malika Kanthong and Pleumjit Thinkaow topped Thailand with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Canada was led by middle blocker Emily Maglio with 13 points, followed by outside hitter Hilary Howe with nine.
Thailand, fresh off a four-set loss to Belgium on Friday, held a 46-36 edge over Canada in attacking points and compiled five aces to one by the Canadians, who edged their opponent 5-2 in blocks.
Thailand's final ace of the day came against Canada opposite hitter Kiera Van Ryk and set up match point.
"We all did a great job," Thai setter Nootsara Tomkom said. "Tomorrow is another tough match [against 13th-place Italy], the last game in this tournament, but we will do our best."
We do well when we're having fun. ... Your body language shows we're wearing those errors.— Canada head coach Shannon Winzer in a 1st-set message to her players
The Canadians kept the third set close, with a Maglio kill and tip closing the gap to 11-9 and 19-16. But a Howe kill attempt was blocked to extend the Thai lead to 21-16 and they never looked back.
After watching her players fall in three sets to Italy on Friday, Canada head coach Shannon Winzer was visibly upset midway through Saturday's opening set with her squad trailing 13-7.
Thailand pulled away at 18-10 and went up 20-11 when Howe's kill to the side went out of bounds.
Ahead 5-4 in the second set, Thailand extended the margin to four points, scoring off a block, when Howe misplayed a serve and an Andrea Mitrovic spike to the side sailed out of bounds.
Howe got Canada to within two points down 10-8 but an ace against Mitrovic allowed Thailand to surge ahead 13-8.
The Canadians again narrowed the deficit to 15-12 after winning a floor touch challenge and rookie outside hitter Carolina Livingston delivered an ace, but Van Ryk tried to force a serve and Maglio misplayed a ball at the net to give Thailand a 20-14 advantage.
Thailand ended the set when Canada couldn't take advantage of a free ball and attempted a block too early for its eighth error of the set while Thai played error-free.
WATCH | Van Ryk says VNL experience will prepare team for 2024 Olympic qualifiers:
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