Canadian women down Mexico to close out disappointing Olympic qualifying campaign

A day after being eliminated from Olympic contention, the Canadian women’s volleyball team bounced back to close out its dismal qualification tournament with a win.

Dominican Republic down Puerto Rico to secure Tokyo berth

The Canadian women's volleyball team defeated Mexico 3-1 (25-13, 21-25, 25-19, 25-15) at an Olympic qualifying event on Sunday. (norceca.net)

A day after being eliminated from Olympic contention, the Canadian women's volleyball team bounced back to close out its disappointing qualification tournament with a win.

Following consecutive defeats to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic (on Friday and Saturday respectively), Canada showed its mettle in a 3-1 (25-13, 21-25, 25-19, 25-15) victory over Mexico on Sunday.

In a battle of winless teams, Canada recovered after Mexico took the second set to even the score 1-1, with a dominant performance in the final two.

Alexa Gray and Kiera Van Ryk led the way for Canada, scoring 26 and 23 points respectively, while Samantha Bricio had 22 for Mexico.

Following the game, coach Tom Black reflected on Canada's tournament. "Disappointed with the performance of the team in this competition. A tough match against Dominican Republic and another with Puerto Rico. Our team also has young players that sometimes let the game slip through their hands at the moment of closing important plays."

Later in the day, hosts Dominican Republic joined the Tokyo 2020 parade after defeating Puerto Rico in straight sets to book their Olympic spot. 

With files from Norceca.net