Photo: Facebook / NORCECA / @Norcecainfo

By Shaun Penner

Olympics on the Line

Smith, Canada fall to Puerto Rico at Continental Cup

Oct 11, 2019 | 9:05 AM

Beaverlodge’s Danielle Smith and the Canadian Women’s Volleyball team are going to have to take the long road to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Canada closed out the round robin of the Continental Cup by falling to the host Puerto Ricans in straight sets (25-23, 25-22, 25-18) on Thursday evening.

The loss means Puerto Rico takes first place in Pool A and claims one of the three spots available in the North American Olympic qualifying tournament. Canada finishes in second with a 2-1 record.

Smith and the Canadians now have to prepare themselves for one of, if not the biggest matches in their journey to make it to Tokyo in July, as they face Mexico in the quarter-finals tonight.

A win for Canada will secure them a spot in the qualifying tournament in January, which will be held in the Dominican Republic. A loss could mean they would fail to qualify for the tournament and miss the Olympics, which Canada hasn’t been to in Women’s Volleyball since the 1996 games in Atlanta.

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Mexico finished at 1-2 in Pool B play with straight sets losses to the U.S. and the Dominican. They advanced to the quarters with a straight-sets win of their own yesterday over Trinidad and Tobago.