Sept. 20, 2023: In a nail-biter of a five-set match, Canada beat China at the FIVB Olympic Qualification Tournament (OQT) in front of shocked home crowd on Wednesday in Ningbo, China.

• SCHEDULE & RESULTS: https://bit.ly/3RpVwnK

Not deterred by a 3-0 loss to Serbia in its last match, Canada came out with fight, taking the first set to overtime and showing China its first set loss of the tournament. China recovered and seemed to be in control, but Canada found several other gears even after a slow start in the tie break.
 
It ended China 2, Canada 3 (26-28, 25-15, 23-25, 25-22, 15-17).
 
"That was an incredibly gutsy game," said head coach Shannon Winzer. “We asked the team to sink into the game plan and take some risks. This was never going to be won by playing safe and I think every single person on this team dug deep to deliver just that. Tonight was a great reminder of what we are capable of and why this group is so special.”
 
Canada was aggressive – leading in attack points (76-66), while China led in blocking stats (19-11), aces (10-3) and made two fewer errors.
 
Canada’s attack was led by Kiera Van Ryk (26 attack points) and Alexa Gray (23, and one block), while Emily Maglio had 20 points – 10 attack, nine blocks and an ace.
 
“I am really proud of this team and our fight against China today,” said team captain Alexa Gray of Calgary. "China is a very strong team, and they are at home, so we knew it would be hard to battle for the win. But we stuck to our game plan and stayed together as a team, and our blocking defense was something we’ve been talking about this week, and tonight it was working much better than in the last three games. .. It was a lot of ups and downs, but in the end we came together as a team and battled it out with one of the top teams in the world.”
 
Yingying Li led China’s scoring with 30 points.
 
Before this match, China earned 3-0 victories against Ukraine, Mexico and Czechia. Serbia remains the only undefeated team in the pool. Canada is 2-2 in the tournament so far.  More info here.

Canada plays Ukraine on Sept. 22. (1 am ET): https://bit.ly/3RpVwnK

Each OQT pool is played in a single round robin format and is ranked per the standard team rankings system. There are three pools and the top two ranked teams per pool qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The men’s tournament is Sept. 30 to Oct. 08, with Canada also competing in China.

Team Canada:
3 – Kiera Van Ryk, Surrey, BC
4 - Vicky Savard, Jonquière, QC
5 - Julia Murmann, Toronto, ON
6 - Jazmine White, Oshawa, 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.
21 – Avery Heppell, Langley, B.C.
26 – Quinn Pelland, Wanham, AB
 
Head coach: Shannon Winzer

Vincenzo Mallia - Asst. coach
Matt Krueger - Asst. coach
Kevin Valcke - Physiotherapist 
Gabriele Tortorici - Statistician 
Rob Hooper - IST lead
Hilary Mallinger - Physiotherapist 
Roger Friesen - Mental performance coach
Julien Boucher - High performance director
Jennah Paron - Team coordinator 

Viewing Guide:

In Canada, www.cbcsports.ca
Worldwide: VBTV

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