Volleyball Canada – Rotterdam, the Netherlands. July 19, 2018: Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team lost its quarterfinal match today, and now plays for fifth place.

China – 2016 Paralympic Games silver medalist and world ranked number two – won 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-17).  See highlights on Facebook.

Canada plays Brazil tomorrow (July 20) at 11 am local (5 am ET) and then either the winner/loser of the Netherlands versus Ukraine on Saturday (time TBD).

“The match today was a good evaluation of how we compare to a strong international opponent,” said Volleyball Canada’s sitting volleyball high performance director, Ian Halliday. “We were confident in the information that we had gathered throughout the tournament on China, and the game plan for the match, but right from the beginning, we struggled with unforced errors and as a result, we could never gain control of the flow of the match.”

Canada is currently ranked ninth in the world.

“China has the ability to play very fast and they put a lot of pressure on our block defense. When we were in system, we were able to effectively attack against them, but our unforced errors resulted in inconsistent play and ultimately allowed them to dictate the pace and style of play.”

Team Canada preliminary match results: 
July 15: 13:00 RWA vs CAN – 0-3
July 16: 15:00 CRO vs CAN – 0-3
July 17: 18:00 CAN vs NED – 2-3

Quarterfinals
July 19: CHN vs CAN 3-0
 
Roster:
Julie Kozun, Melfort, SK         
Danielle Ellis, Langley, BC
Angelena Dolezar, Edmonton, AB                
Jolan Wong, Pembroke, ON                   
Sarah Melenka, Vegreville, AB   
Jennifer Oakes, Calgary, AB         
Heidi Peters, Neerlandia, AB   
Amber Skyrpan, Wandering River, AB                 
Katelyn Wright, Edmonton, AB   
Felicia Voss-Shafiq, Burnaby, BC

Coaching and support staff:
Head Coach: Nicole Ban
Assistant Coach: Christine Biggs
Mental Performance Coach: Erin Brennan
Athletic Therapist: Lauren Demers
Physiotherapist: Yung Wong
Team Manager: Ian Halliday 

For schedule & results visit the World ParaVolley web site:
http://www.worldparavolley.org/2018-world-paravolley-sitting-volleyball-world-championships

Photo: World ParaVolley
Volleyball Canada
Jackie Skender
Director, Communications
613.794.7676
jskender@volleyball.ca