August 30, 2023: Canada won its second-straight match of the 2023 NORCECA Senior Women’s Volleyball Continental Championship in Quebec City, earning a bye to the semifinals on September 2.

Despite a hard push from Puerto Rico in the third and ultimately final set, the Canadians took the match 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-23), marking their second sweep in as many games. With the win, Canada clinched first place in Group A to move past the quarterfinals and into the top-four. They’ll now see how the results play out over the next two days of the tournament before finding out who they’ll face in the semifinals.

Captain Alexa Gray led scoring with 12 points, followed closely by Emily Maglio and Kiera Van Ryk with 11.

Canada led in both attacks (35-29) and block points (14-6), while Puerto Rico had one more ace than Canada 2-1. Canada made the most of Puerto Rico's errors (25-17).

On the Puerto Rican side, it was Neira Ortiz, Elaine Vazquez Rivera, Pilar Marie Victoria, who carried the team in points with eight apiece. 

“I thought we played good volleyball tonight, we were pretty clean,” said Canada’s head coach Shannon Winzer. “I thought (setter) Brie King did a great job of running the offense. What we saw was Puerto Rico really show up and battle towards the end. They played amazing defense and it made for an exciting finish. I thought we executed the game plan well and we played good volleyball.”

Canada is 2-0 in Group A. Results and schedule here: https://bit.ly/3L59J5o

USA is 2-0 in Group B with one remaining match vs Dominican Republic, also 2-0, on Thursday night.

Team Canada:
3 – Kiera Van Ryk, Surrey, BC
4 - Vicky Savard, Jonquière, QC
5 - Julia Murmann, Toronto, ON
6 - Jazmine White, Oshawa, ON
7 - Layne Van Buskirk, Windsor, ON
8 - Alicia Ogoms, Winnipeg, MB
9 - Alexa Gray, Calgary, AB
11 - Andrea Mitrovic, Mississauga, ON
13 - Brie King, Langley, BC
14 - Hilary Howe, Calgary, AB
15 - Shaïnah Joseph, Ottawa, ON
17 - Kacey Jost, St. Albert, AB
19 - Emily Maglio, Coquitlam, B.C.
26 - Quinn Pelland, Wanham, AB
Head coach : Shannon Winzer

Viewers’ guide

-In English, all countries:
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/streaming-schedule

-In French, Radio-Canada Website : radio-canada.ca/sports
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YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/c/RadioCanadaSports

Volleyball Canada Media Contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676

Photo: Mathieu Belanger (NORCECA)