Canadian women's volleyball team fails to clinch Olympic spot for Paris
Misses qualifying by 5 points but could secure berth on world ranking next June
Canada kept its Olympic women's volleyball hopes alive on Saturday with a victory over Mexico at the Olympic qualification tournament in Ningbo, China, only to have them dashed hours later when Serbia and the Dominican Republic won their respective matches.
Only the top two qualify from each of the three eight-team pools. Serbia (5-1) sits in the top spot in Pool A after picking up three points in a three sets to zero victory over the Netherlands. Later, the Dominican Republic (5-1) also earned three points in its 3-1 win over China and is currently in second place.
Canada, unable to catch Serbia and the Dominicans, is fourth with a 4-2 record, one point behind the Netherlands, also 4-2, which lost to the Canadians in its tournament opener.
"We did what we needed to do to come out on top today against Mexico," Canada head coach Shannon Winzer told Volleyball Canada. "Every team has a difficult schedule with seven games in nine days, but I would argue this is the toughest pool across these Olympic qualifiers, so being able to pull out a three-set win today was not easy, and we were able to get the job done. Sometimes that just has to be enough."
Canada probably will need to improve upon its world ranking next summer to gain entry to the 12-team Olympic tourney. The final spots will be determined at the conclusion of the Volleyball Nations League season.
WATCH | Canada tops Mexico:
The Canadians, with little room for error following consecutive losses to the Dominicans and Serbia, delivered clutch victories over China (3-3) on Wednesday and two days later against Ukraine (1-5).
Canada was tested by Mexico (0-6) in the first two set Saturday but cruised to victory (25-22, 25-22, 25-17).
The Canadians were led in scoring by Kiera Van Ryk of Surrey, B.C., (17 points), Calgarians Alexa Gray (13) and Hilary Howe (12), and Emily Maglio of Coquitlam, B.C. (11).
Canada wraps up play Sunday against the Czech Republic (2-4) at 1 a.m. ET. Live coverage of the match will be available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
WATCH | Full match coverage of Canada vs. Mexico from Olympic qualifier:
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.
With files from Volleyball Canada
