Volleyball Canada – Sapporo, Japan, October 3, 2018 – Canada recorded its first win beating Cuba 3-1 (16-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-20) today at the FIVB Women’s World Championship at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Centre in Sapporo. 
 
It was Canada’s first win over Cuba in a World Championship match ever, but Canada did beat Cuba last year in the Worlds’ qualification tournament in Langley, B.C.
 
After a shaky start, it was a team effort today that brought Canada this first victory of the tournament. Brianna Beamish (16 points), Alexa Gray (15 points) and Emily Maglio (14) were the top scorers for Canada. Beamish had four aces, while Maglio scored four blocking points. Cuba was led by captain Diaris Perez and Laura Suarez with 12 points each.
 
“I’m satisfied with the result, to get a win in the World Championship, but maybe our level wasn’t so great today. We played better yesterday (against the number one ranked China) under less pressure,” said Canada’s head coach Marcello Abbondanza. “With today’s victory we can still dream of reaching the second round. I hope tomorrow we can approach the game in a better way and not like we did in the first set today.”
 
Canada plays Bulgaria tomorrow in the final pool play match, with both teams trying to stay alive.
 
“Bulgaria is a strong, fiery team and it’s going to come down to more than just volleyball skill tomorrow,” said Canada’s captain, Kyla Richey. “The winner advances; it’s going to be about who wants it more and how each team plays tactically. We played against Bulgaria in some friendly matches in Europe, so it’s not the first time we’ve been up against them. We’ve been in must-win games before so this isn’t new for us. I have full belief in this group that we will rise to the challenge.”

 
See schedule here: http://japan2018.fivb.com/en

About the tournament:

The world’s best 24 teams are in Japan following a qualifying process, which started in 2016. The 24 countries competing in the 2018 FIVB Women’s World Championship are split according to the following: South America (two), Asia (five), Europe (eight), Africa (two) and NORCECA (seven).

The teams have been divided into four pools of six teams playing in a round-robin system with the top four teams in each pool advancing to the second round. The tournament takes place in four cities, with Canada’s pool B in Sapporo for the first round.

Roster:
#1 Jessie Niles, Turner Valley, AB
#2 Autumn Bailey, Burlington, ON
#4 Kyla Richey, Roberts Creek, BC (team captain)
#5 Danielle Smith, Beaverlodge, AB
#7 Brianna Beamish, Surrey, BC
#8 Alicia Ogoms, Winnipeg, MB
#9 Alexa Gray, Calgary, AB
#11 Anna Feore, Stratford, ON
#12 Jennifer Cross, Scarborough, ON
#16 Shainah Joseph, Ottawa, ON
#19 Marie-Alex Belanger, Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, QC
#22 Megan Cyr, St. Andrews, MB
#23 Emily Maglio, Cranbrook, BC
#25 Kiera Van Ryk, Surrey, BC

Staff:
Head Coach: Marcello Abbondanza
Assistant Coach: Richard Schick
Assistant Coach: Vincenzo Mallia
Therapist: Giorgio Caiterzi
Statistician: Tommaso Barbato
Team Manager: Chrissy Benz

• Official web site: http://japan2018.fivb.com/en
• Official web cast: https://welcome.volleyballworld.tv/ (by subscription)
• Follow Volleyball Canada on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates
• Follow the women’s team account on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/canwvb/

 
Photo: FIVB

Volleyball Canada
Jackie Skender
Director, Communications
613.794.7676
jskender@volleyball.ca