Canadian women take down Slovenia to reach sitting volleyball worlds final

Canada has secured its first sitting volleyball worlds medal.

The Canadian women's team breezed past Slovenia 3-0 (25-14, 25-16- 25-21) in a Thursday semifinal in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to set up a gold medal match with World No. 4 Brazil on Friday at 10.30 a.m. ET (available to stream live on World ParaVolley's YouTube channel).

Canada's women's team continues to rise after having clinched its best-ever finish in the tournament — topping a sixth place in 2018 — when it bested No. 5 Italy in a quarter-final match on Wednesday.

Canada, ranked sixth in the world, topped No. 14 Iran 3-1 and No. 16 Hungary 3-0 in group play, when it was also defeated by the top-ranked U.S. 3-2.

"We have faced tough opponents in this tournament, who continue to push us to adapt as the games go on," said Oakes. "I'm so proud to be a part of this program, we have continued to grow and support each other, and that will continue through tomorrow's match."

Also on Thursday, Brazil downed the U.S. 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-17) in the other semifinal.

The South American country has never made to the podium in the women's tournament, having earned silver in 2014 and bronze in 2018 in the men's event.

Canada's men's team beats Poland for 11th place

The Canadian men came back from two sets down to defeat No. 16 Poland for 11th place in a ranking game.

Poland took the first two sets at 26-24 but failed to see out the win as Canada rallied to win three sets in a row at 25-14, 25-17 and 16-14.

"Our team today played with so much grit and pulled out a clutch five-set win to finish the World Championship," said men's head coach Jeff Smith.

"I am proud of the way we ended and proud of this team. We came to Bosnia to send a message that we deserve to play the best teams in the world. We can only go up from here."

Previously in the tournament, No. 13 Canada fell to No. 7 Ukraine 3-1 in a round of 16 game to settle for placement games.

The Canadian men's team defeated Poland and lost to No. 4 Brazil and No. 8 Germany in group action. Canada also downed No. 14 Rwanda in a placement game on Wednesday.

"The growth our team has shown over the past year is phenomenal," said Team captain Doug Learoyd of Edmonton.

"We have shown the ability to compete with the best teams in the world and I look forward to seeing the continued growth as we head towards our Paralympic qualifier in May."

Canada women's roster

• #2 Julie Kozun — Melfort, Sask.
• #3 Danielle Ellis (C) — White Rock, B.C.
• #4 Jennifer Oakes — Calgary
• #5 Payden Vair — Cardston, Alta.
• #6 Angelena Dolezar — St. Albert, Alta.
• #7 Anne Fergusson — Carleton Place, Ont.
• #8 Jolan Wong — Vermilion, Alta.
• #9 Sarah Melenka — Vegreville, Alta.
• #10 Jayme Lepp — Vancouver
• #11 Heidi Peters — Neerlandia, Alta.
• #14 Katelyn Wright — Edmonton
• #15 Felicia Voss-Shafiq — Burnaby, B.C.
• #16 Jennifer McCreesh — Smithers, B.C.
• #17 Allison Lang — Edmonton

Canada men's roster

• #2 Mikael Bartholdy — Calgary
• #3 Austin Hinchey — Edmonton
• #5 Nasif Chowdhury — Toronto
• #6 Bryce Foster — Thunder Bay, Ont.
• #7 Douglas Learoyd (C) — Calgary
• #9 Andrew Tucker — Brampton, Ont.
• #10 Christopher Bird — Brandon, Man.
• #11 José Rebelo — Saint-Hubert, Que.
• #13 Dariusz Symonowicz — Toronto
• #14 Connor Compton — Calgary
• #19 Jason Beaman — Vancouver