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.

Viewers guide:

• 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.

VNL Roster 

• Brie O’Reilly – Langley, BC
• Courtney Baker – Bridgewater, NS
• Emily Maglio – Coquitlam, BC
• Jazmine White – Oshawa, ON
• Alicia Ogoms – Winnipeg, MB
• Layne Van Buskirk – Windsor, ON
• Alexa Gray (C) – Calgary, AB
• Hilary Johnson – Calgary, AB
• Andrea Mitrovic – Mississauga, ON
• Vicky Savard – Jonquière, QC
• Kiera Van Ryk – Surrey, BC
• Shainah Joseph – Ottawa, ON
• Julia Murmann – Toronto, ON
• Kacey Jost – St. Albert, AB

Staff:

• Shannon Winzer – Head coach
• Vincenzo Mallia – Asst. coach
• Matt Krueger – Asst. coach
• Kevin Valcke – Physiotherapist
• Gabriele Tortorici – Statistician
• Rob Hooper – IST lead
• Hilary Mallinger – Physiotherapist
• Roger Friesen – Mental performance coach
• Julien Boucher – High performance director
• Jennah Paron – Team coordinator

Media Contact:

Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676