Katherine Plummer scored 14 points, Jordan Thompson had 13 and Jordan Larson had 12, and the U.S. women's team beat Canada 25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 25-20 on Tuesday in their opening match of the second round of the Volleyball Nations League.
Both teams are now 3-2 after the game at UT Arlington's College Park Center. The U.S. has two days off before playing Bulgaria on Friday. Canada, which is seeking a spot in the Paris Olympics, is off Wednesday before playing Germany on Thursday.
There were three other matches on Tuesday: Thailand beat the Dominican Republic in four sets in Macau, China, and Brazil remained unbeaten by beating Japan in five sets.
In the first match at UTA on Tuesday, Poland defeated Serbia in four games.
Italy was due to beat France in Macau on Wednesday before the Netherlands took on China.
Three games will be played in Arlington, with South Korea vs. Bulgaria at 11 a.m. Central time and Germany vs. Turkey at 2:30 p.m.
Plummer, making his VNL debut after a strong season with Imoco Conegliano in Italy, scored 14 points on 40 attempts, hitting .175 with seven errors and adding two solo blocks and 13 digs.
Thompson, who did not make the first-round trip to Rio de Janeiro, also batted .225 with 40 swings, seven digs, one ace, five blocks and one solo homer. Larson, who played in the first round, batted .366 with one ace, two solo homers and a game-high 18 digs.
“I think we're trying to balance urgency and calm,” Larson told USA Volleyball, “and we're a new team here, so I think we're adapting and adjusting to each other.”
Middle players Asjia O'Neal and Dana Rettke, who also sat out the first round, each scored six points. O'Neal had one error and five blocks on 12 attempts, two of which were solo. Rettke had one error and six blocks on 14 attempts, three of which were solo.
Setter Jordyn Poulter had one kill, one ace and six digs. The Americans hit .275. Libero Justine Wong Orantes had 12 digs.
Canada had more kills (59) than the USA (52) and a .221 hitting percentage. Alexa Gray and Kiera Van Ryk continued to perform well in the VNL. Gray, playing for BYU, led the team with 20 kills, two aces, five digs and a solo block. Van Ryk had 17 kills, 13 errors, 18 digs, one ace and two solo blocks. Emily Maglio, playing for Hawaii, had eight kills, three solo blocks and five digs. Andrea Mitrovic, playing for Arizona State, had six kills and four digs.
Other notable stats from Tuesday's games: Thailand had four players with 12 or more kills in their win over the Dominican Republic: Srithong Wipawee with 15 and Jongkayla Pena with 17. Poland's Magdalena Stysiak led the way with 21 kills, 2 solo blocks and 9 digs for a .463 hitting percentage. Brazil's Gabi Braga Guimaraes had 21 kills and a .370 hitting percentage in a 24-26, 26-24, 19-25, 25-20, 15-11 win over Japan. She had three aces and 13 digs.
