Aug. 25: Canada battled Spain today at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
 
Canada managed the hard-fought win in five sets 3-2 (22-25, 28-26, 24-26, 25-15, 15-10), but it was not a clean effort by either team.

"When Canada plays against Canada it becomes very difficult," commented Canada’s head coach Giovanni Guidetti. "Today that happened; there were too many unforced errors. But at the end, with a very young squad and many players experiencing this level of play for the first time, we reached the round of 16 and we are extremely happy about the result!"

Canada has one more round-robin match, against the top-ranked team in their pool, Türkiye, on Wednesday. But with two wins in the pool phase, Canada is already in position to advance the next phase (eighth finals) in Bangkok, which is single elimination.

In today’s match, both teams sacrificed 35 points to errors, but Canada led in attack points (65-59), blocks (11-6) and aces (3-2).

Veteran Andrea Mitrovic again led Canada in scoring with 22 points, with Hilary Johnson next on the scoresheet for Canada with 19.
 
"We had to be aggressive to win this game, as they are a great defensive team – they play really fast," Johnson told VBTV in the post-match interview. 

Canada is in Pool E with Bulgaria, Türkiye and Spain. Canada plays Türkiye on Aug. 27 at 5 am ET (4 pm local time in Thailand).

All Canadian matches are shown on CBC Sports, and the full tournament is available on VBTV (also free to members of Volleyball Canada).

Pool E Schedule
August 23 – Canada vs. Bulgaria – 16:00 local time (ICT) 3-1
August 23 – Türkiye vs. Spain – 19:30 local time 3-0
August 25 – Canada vs. Spain – 16:00 local time 3-2
August 25 – Türkiye vs. Bulgaria – 19:30 local time 3-0
August 27 – Türkiye vs. Canada – 16:00 local time
August 27 – Bulgaria vs. Spain – 19:30 local time

Roster:
Courtney Baker (S) - Bridgewater, NS
Quinn Pelland (S) - Wanham, AB
Kacey Jost (L) - St. Albert, AB
Julia Murmann (L) - Toronto, ON
Emily Maglio (MB) C - Coquitlam, BC
Jessica Andrews (MB) - Guelph, ON
Nyadholi Thokbuom (MB) - Calgary, AB
Abby Guezen (OH) - Sherwood Park, AB 
Andrea Mitrovic (OH) - Mississauga, ON
Hilary Johnson (OH) - Calgary, AB
Thana Fayad (OH) - Victoria, B.C. 
Vicky Savard (OH) -  Jonquière, QC
Anna Smrek (OPP) - Welland, ON
Lucy Borowski (OPP) - Vancouver, BC
 
Staff:
Giovanni Guidetti (Head Coach)
Vincenzo Mallia (Assistant Coach)
Carolyn O’Dwyer (Assistant Coach)
Ahmet Ersimsek (Assistant Coach)
Lydia Maxwell (Medical Lead)
Fatih Yagci (Statistician)
Mary Claire Geneau (IST Lead)
Sandy Heming (Physiotherapist)
Kelvin Ma (Team Lead)
Shannon Winzer (High Performance Director)

Watch all matches on VBTV.

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