The Canadian women’s volleyball team lost its second game of the Olympic qualifiers to the Dominican Republic in Ningbo, China, on Sunday to bring its record to 1-1.
Much like Canada’s opening game against No. 9 Netherlands, the No. 10-ranked Dominican Republic squad presented the 11th-ranked Canadian team with an even matchup, ultimately prevailing in five sets (25-17, 22-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-12).
WATCH | Canada falls to Dominican Republic:
The Canadian women and the Dominicans went the distance at the FIVB Road to Paris Women’s Volleyball Olympic Qualification Tournament in Ningbo, China.
The game served as a rematch of the semifinal of the 2023 NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship, held in Quebec City in early September, where the Dominican Republic edged Canada 3-1 (27-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20) and went on to claim gold while Canada took bronze.
While the Dominican Republic was able to capitalize on a 2-1 advantage in that semifinal, Canada was not able to do the same on Sunday.
With Canada up 2-1 and trailing the fourth game by just two at 19-17, the Dominican Republic was able to rattle off six of the next seven points to force a winner-take-all fifth set, spearheaded by Brayelin Martinez kicking off a 5-0 run with an attack, then scoring the clinching point to take the game 25-18.
Canadian captain Alexa Gray of Calgary led her team with 25 points, while Kiera Van Ryk of Surrey, B.C., was right behind with 23 points.
Canada will next be in action on Monday against No. 2 Serbia at 10 p.m. ET, a team that sits atop the Pool A standings at 2-0. The match will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
Path back to the Olympics
Canada needs a top-two finish in its group to qualify for the Paris Olympics next summer, while six other spots will be available via world ranking next year.
Canada last qualified for the Olympic women’s volleyball tournament in Atlanta 1996, finishing in ninth place.
Qualifying for Paris would take the Canadian team to an overseas Games for the first time. Other than Atlanta, Canada only featured in Olympic women’s volleyball in Los Angeles 1984 and Montreal 1976, finishing eighth in both events.
Canada roster
- Kiera Van Ryk — Surrey, B.C.
- Vicky Savard — Jonquière, Que.
- Julia Murmann — Toronto
- Jazmine White — Oshawa, Ont.
- Alicia Ogoms — Winnipeg
- Alexa Gray — Calgary
- Andrea Mitrovic — Mississauga, Ont.
- Brie King — Langley, B.C.
- Hilary Howe — Calgary
- Shaïnah Joseph — Ottawa
- Kacey Jost — St. Albert, Alta.
- Emily Maglio — Coquitlam, B.C.
- Avery Heppell — Langley, B.C.
- Quinn Pelland — Wanham, Alta.
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