Canadian women open Olympic volleyball qualifier with 5-set win over the Netherlands
Canada faces the Dominican Republic on Sunday at 4 a.m. ET in Ningbo, China
The Canadian women's volleyball team started its bid to end a 28-year Olympic drought with a victory on Saturday.
Calgary's Alexa Gray scored 28 points to lead Canada to 3-2 victory (32-30, 19-25, 15-25, 25-17 and 15-13) over the Netherlands in Ningbo, China.
Ranked 11th in the world, Canada went the distance in the first set before seeing its offence lose momentum to allow No. 9 Netherlands to take a 2-1 lead. The Canadian women came back stronger in the fourth set to force and win a tiebreaker over the 2023 Women's European Volleyball Championship bronze medallists.
Kiera Van Ryk of Surrey, B.C., added 19 points for Canada. Emily Maglio of Coquitlam, B.C., and Calgary's Hilary Howe also reached double digits, with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Celeste Plak led the Dutch squad with 23 points, followed by Nika Daalderop with 21.
"Tonight wasn't a perfect performance," Winzer said. "But we once again showed that this team has grit and can find confidence knowing we can battle through the imperfect volleyball to still come back to play our top volleyball."
WATCH l Canada prevails in 5-set opener in China:
Canada returns to the court Sunday against the Dominican Republic at 4 a.m. ET. The match will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
The Canadian squad finished third in the NORCECA senior women's volleyball Continental Championship earlier in September, topping Cuba for bronze. Canada fell in the semifinal to the Dominican Republic, which beat the U.S. for gold.
Canada is building on strong 2023 Volleyball Nations League performances such as defeating powerhouses Serbia, the reigning world champions, and Brazil, five-time Olympic champions.
The path to Paris
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.
The remainder of Pool A features No. 6 China, second-ranked Serbia, Dominican Republic (No. 10) Czech Republic (No. 16), Mexico (No. 23) and Ukraine (No. 18).
Canada last qualified to 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.
WATCH | Full coverage of Saturday's match: Canada vs. Netherlands:
