Canada Makes History with First NORCECA

 Continental Championship Gold

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, August 26, 2026 – Canada made history by winning its first gold medal at the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship, defeating the United States in a five-set battle 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 18-25, 15-10) on Wednesday at the “Prof. Ricardo Gioriver Arias” Volleyball Palace.

Canada completed the tournament undefeated with a 5-0 record and earned its 14th medal in the history of the event: one gold, two silver and 11 bronze medals.

The United States finished with a 4-2 record, with both losses coming in five sets against Canada, and earned its fourteenth silver medal in tournament history.

Canada held narrow advantages in attacks (54-53) and blocks (16-15), while also leading in aces (7-4). The United States committed 26 unforced errors compared to Canada’s 34.

Anna Smrek led Canada with 20 points on 14 attacks, five blocks and one ace. Andrea Mitrovic added 16 points, all on kills, while Abagayle Guezen and Nyadholi Thokbuom contributed 14 and 12 points, respectively.

For the United States, Jordan Thompson scored 15 points, followed by Chiaka Ogbogu with 14 and Dana Rettke with 13.

Canada took the first two sets by identical 25-23 scores, but the United States responded by winning the next two, 25-20 and 25-18, to force a decisive fifth set.

Canada opened the tiebreaker with a 3-0 lead, but the United States battled back and tied the score at 9-9. From there, Canada produced a 6-1 finish to take the set 15-10 and secure its historic first NORCECA Continental Championship title.

Giovanni Guidetti, coach of Canada: “It was an exciting match. Congratulations to the United States because they battled very hard and put a lot of pressure on my players, who always believed in themselves because they didn’t want to lose, and they achieved the victory. I am a lucky coach.”

Erik Sullivan, coach of the United States: “Obviously, I’m disappointed with the result. I think it took us a long time to find our rhythm, and I liked the way we were playing once we got there, but we made too many mistakes at the end.”