Volleyball Canada – Sept. 03, 2021: Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team will play for bronze against Brazil on Saturday at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. It was undefeated China with the win over Canada 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-15) today in the semifinals, and the U.S. beating Brazil in the other semi-final contest. 

“Growth, that’s what this is all about,” said Canada’s Head Coach Nicole Ban. “Tonight, we had a chance to do something we’ve never done before, play in a Paralympic semi-final. China’s experience showed out there, but we are close, so close. These are the matches that we want to play in, and we’ve proven we can play against the top teams in the world. We aren’t done yet! It’s a quick turnaround but the team will be back to battle for a bronze medal tomorrow.”
 
Today Julie Kozun (Melfort, Sask.) was Canada’s top scorer with 11 points, with captain Danielle Ellis with six.

The team will now quickly regroup for the bronze match at 16:30 local time on Saturday; 3:30 am ET.
 
“If you told me we would be playing for a medal, after just squeezing in with our last chance qualifier (in Feb. 2020), I don’t think I would have believed you,” said veteran Ellis of White Rock, B.C. “But this team has shown immense growth in the last two years and we’re ready to compete for a medal!”

• CBC sports broadcast schedule can be found here: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/paralympics
• Official schedule and live score: https://bit.ly/3gxB5Sn
• Full roster: https://bit.ly/3joPhiJ

Media contact: Jackie Skender Photo: World ParaVolley