June 13, 2023: Canada’s women’s team opened week 2 of Volleyball Nations League on Tuesday in Hong Kong with a 3-0 loss to China 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 29-27).

"China is a formidable opponent. In the first two sets, we struggled with first contact and struggled from the baseline. In the third, we started hitting our serves and stayed in system more, as a result we were able to go point for point with one of the strongest teams in this competition,” said head coach Shannon Winzer.

Although Canada led in attack points (41-39), China had the advantage in other categories, and benefited from Canada’s errors (28-13).

"It’ll be important for us to learn from this game how we responded as a team and individually when things got away from us, but not dwell on this loss," explained Winzer. "We now need to look forward to our next game versus Bulgaria (June 15) which is an important match up against another challenger team."

VNL Challenger teams can be relegated and would have to qualify to have a place in the tournament.

Week 2 Results (Hong Kong)
China v. Canada 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 29-27)

Week 1 Results (Türkiye)
Poland v. Canada 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 15-13)
Canada v. Thailand 0-3 (17-25, 24-26, 21-25)
Canada v. Korea 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-18)
Canada v. Serbia 3-2 (18-25, 28-26, 25-23, 18-25, 15-12)

VNL 2023 is played based on the same competition formula as in 2022, featuring 16 teams per gender. A total of 104 matches per gender will be played across the preliminary and final phases, with every team playing a minimum of 12 matches.

For more on the competition formula:
https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/vnl-2023/competition/formula

Matches are featured on Volleyball World TV and in Canada at www.cbcsports.ca

VNL Women’s Roster Week 2:
3 – Kiera Van Ryk, Surrey, BC
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
16 - Caroline Livingston, Kelowna, BC
19 - Emily Maglio, Coquitlam, B.C.
20 – Arielle Palermo, Burlington, ON
26 – Quinn Pelland, Wanham, AB

Staff:
Shannon Winzer – Head coach
Vincenzo Mallia – Assistant coach
Matt Krueger – Assistant coach
Gabriele Tortorici – Performance analyst
Kevin Valcke and Hilary Mallinger - Physiotherapists
Jennah Paron – Team Coordinator
Robert Hooper – Trainer (Strength & Conditioning)
Roger Friesen – Mental Performance Coach

Photo: VolleyballWorld

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