Canada shows grit in win over Japan

June 13, 2024.- Canada came out on top of an intense five-set battle at 2024 Volleyball Nations League in Fukuoka, Japan, over the host nation today. 

The final score was Japan 2 Canada 3 (25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 21-25, 14-16).

“That was a big win for us,” said Canada’s head coach Shannon Winzer of her team’s comeback effort after being down two sets to none. “We knew we had to be patient on attack and then work hard on defense around our block and while we kept falling just short in two very close first and second sets, we found our rhythm and our confidence in the third and kept going from there. Big team effort tonight!”

It was a back-and-forth affair, with Canada just edging out Japan in attack points (68-67), service aces even at six and Canada making more errors 26-24. However, Canada’s block was effective with 13 points compared with six for Japan.

Alexa Gray with 30 points and Kiera Van Ryk with 27 points led the attack for Canada. Sarina Koga was top scorer for Japan with 20 points.

Canada is still in a tight race to qualify for Paris 2024. More on that process can be found here: https://bit.ly/3xfcDB0

Canada’s next match - a crucial contest against Netherlands as both teams are still vying for an Olympic berth - is at 2:30 am ET on Friday.