Canada takes fifth place at Women’s Pan American Cup
LEÓN, Mexico, September 18, 2026.- Canada secured fifth place at
the 2026 Women’s Pan American Cup with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20,
25-16) victory over Cuba on Friday at the Domo de la Feria in
León, Guanajuato.
Canada faced resistance from Cuba in the opening set, with
Evilania Martínez leading the Cuban offense, before securing a
25-22 win. The Canadians maintained their advantage in the
second set, taking it 25-20, and Emoni Bush led the charge in
the third as Canada pulled away to seal the match 25-16.
Canada held the advantage in attacks (44-34) and blocks (6-1),
while both teams recorded two aces. The Canadians committed 21
errors, compared to Cuba’s 22.
Emoni Bush led Canada with a match-high 18 points, followed by
Payton Henderson with 10. For Cuba, Evilania Martínez scored 15
points and Whitney James added 10.
Emma Boyd, Canada’s captain:
“I’m very happy. We had a bit of a rough start with some service
errors, but our coach told me a couple of summers ago that fifth
is better than sixth. We came here wanting to show everything
we’ve improved on this summer. We didn’t have the match we
wanted against USA, and we knew we had earned the opportunity to
play a match like that. I think today was probably our best
match. It was very clean and clinical.”