Volleyball Canada – Canada falls to Korea in Olympic Qualification opener

Aug. 02, 2019: Canada came out fighting but the South Korean team was able to regroup for the 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-22) win over Canada today in the opener of the Women’s FIVB Olympic Qualification Tournament in Kaliningrad, Russia.

Korean standout and captain Yeon Koung Kim was match top scorer with 37 points. Alexa Gray contributed 22 points to Canada’s effort today.

• Match stats here: http://volleyball.ioqt.2019.fivb.com/en/women-pool5/schedule/9862-korea-canada/post

Canada also suffered a late-match setback when Marie-Alex Bélanger sprained her ankle during play.

Korea, ranked 10th in the world, has never lost to Canada (ranked 18th) at a major world-level tournament in recent history.

Tomorrow, Canada faces host and top-ranked this pool Russia, which will be live streamed at www.cbcsports.ca (1 pm ET), and featured Saturday afternoon on Road to the Olympic Games on CBC TV (4 pm ET).

• More info on qualification at www.fivb.com

Roster: 
 
#1 Jessie Niles, Turner Valley, AB
#3 Kiera Van Ryk, Surrey, BC
#4 Kyla Richey (C), Roberts Creek, B.C.
#5 Danielle Smith, Beaverlodge, AB 
#9 Alexa Gray, Calgary, AB
#11 Andrea Mitrovic, Mississauga, ON
#12 Jennifer Cross, Scarborough, ON
#13 Brie O’Reilly (King), Langley, BC
#15 Sarah Chase, Campbell River, BC
#16 Shainah Joseph, Ottawa, ON
#17 Kristen Moncks, Standard, AB
#19 Marie-Alex Bélanger, Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, QC
#20 Alicia Perrin, Creston, BC
#23 Emily Maglio, Coquitlam, BC
 
Staff
Head Coach: Tom Black
Assistant Coach: Ben Josephson
Assistant Coach: Jeff Baxter
Athletic Trainer: Fraser Perry
Team Leader: Kerry MacDonald
 
Web site:
http://volleyball.ioqt.2019.fivb.com/en
 
Matches will be streamed at www.cbcsports.ca:
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/broadcast

Photo: FIVB

Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676