June 28, 2025: Canada was able to control a young, determined Dominican Republic team to win in a tie-break today at the U19 Girls’ Pan American Cup at Queen’s University's Athletic and Recreation Centre in Kingston, Ontario.

The home crowd cheered Canada on to the 3-2 (25-22, 25-18, 18-25, 19-25, 15-10) win and the bronze medal.

Canada led in attack points 58-50, blocking 10-4, while Dominican Republic had one more ace (11-10). Canada also made more errors 35-24.

Opposite Sydney Bell (16) and outside hitter Sol Henson (14) led in points for Canada. Ambar Hernández (16) and Julie Millaray Arias (13) were top scorers for Team Dominican Republic.

“It was a great team effort for us,” explained Canada’s head coach Gina Schmidt. “The Dominican team served tougher than they did in the previous match we played against them. We were in system a lot in our first match, and they added some service pressure today, which got us out of our rhythm with our offense. Once we kind of settled that down and put on more pressure from service from our side, we were able to work our way back into the match. I loved the way our team reacted in that fifth set. Everyone found a way to contribute, so that’s important as we head into the next tournament.”

Most teams, including Canada, at the Pan Am Cup are using this tournament to prepare for the FIVB Girls' U19 World Championship 2025, which will be held in Serbia and Croatia in early July.

In the final, USA won gold over Mexico.

2025 Standings
1 USA (gold)
2 Mexico (silver)
3 Canada (bronze)
4 Dominican Republic
5 Venezuela
6 Puerto Rico
7 Costa Rica

Team Canada
Ashlyn Gent (AB)
Sofia Zabjek (ON)
Lydia-Jayne Wigston (AB)
Brooke Fermaniuk (AB)
Maya Bukovcan (ON)
Sol Henson (ON)
Emerson Matthews (SK)
Sydney Bell (ON)
Ana Nastase (ON)
Abby Wasutyk (SK)
Remy Catojo (MB)
Ana Stojanovic (ON)

Results: norceca.net

Web stream:
CBC Sports : https://www.cbc.ca/sports/streaming-schedule &
https://www.youtube.com/@TheVolleyballCanada/featured

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