Canada earns first win at 2024 VNL

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, May 16, 2024.- Canada’s women’s team earned its first win at the 2024 edition of Volleyball Nations League against a familiar tough opponent, Dominican Republic. But the Dominican team couldn’t hold back a determined Canada, ending in a 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-22) sweep in Rio, Brazil.

"It was a good solid game for us," said head coach Shannon Winzer. "We felt in control the first two sets, playing aggressive but calm volleyball. Winning in three was really important because we wanted to maximize the world ranking points, so when we fell behind in the third with a shaky start it was great to see the players battle with a sense of urgency to come back and take the third set.”

Canada led in attack points 43-37, blocks 7-6 and ace serves 4-1. Dominican Republic also made more errors than Canada 21-19. Alexa Gray led Canada in scoring with 19 points and Kiera Van Ryk had 18.

Winzer commented: "Our service pressure was much better tonight (than against Brazil yesterday), as was our block/defense. China is next and they are a very tough team to beat in system, we will need to bring our best serving game tomorrow!"

Dominican Republic is qualified for Paris 2024, while Canada is battling for each set and match to qualify via ranking points.

Early in the tournament, Canada is 1-1.

Viewers guide:
-Next match is versus China on May 17.
-All matches are streamed on VBTV and CBC Sports and CBC Gem.
-VNL Web site: https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/

The women’s team is still in contention to qualify for Paris 2024 via the World Rankings.

Seven women’s teams are already qualified for the Games. The remaining five places are filled by selecting the top five not yet qualified teams in the FIVB World Ranking as of the end of the preliminary phase of Volleyball Nations League.