Sep the 23 Indoor Women Senior
Mexico falls to Canada at OQT
Sept. 23, 2023: Canada beat Mexico 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-17) at the women’s Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Ningbo, China, early on Saturday.
Canada came out slow off the starting block, but managed to sweep a determined Mexico looking for its first victory of the tournament.
"We did what we needed to do to come out on top today against Mexico," said head coach Shannon Winzer. "Every team has a difficult schedule with seven games in nine days, but I would argue this is the toughest pool across these Olympic qualifiers so being able to pull out a three-set win today was not easy and we were able to get the job done. Sometimes that just has to be enough.”
Canada was led in scoring by Kiera Van Ryk of Surrey, B.C. (17 points), Alexa Gray (13) and Hilary Howe (12), both of Calgary, and Emily Maglio of Coquitlam, B.C. (11).
This win won’t be enough to qualify for Paris 2024, however, with Serbia and Dominican Republic all but locking up the top two spaces, with a day to go in the tournament. Both have 5-1 records, while Canada sits at 4-2 with the Netherlands. China struggled and lost to the Dominican Republic today, dashing the tournament’s home team its qualification hope.
Qualification is not out of reach in the future for Canada, however, with additional teams earning berths next summer via world rankings.
OQT standings can be found here:
Canada has one match to go against Czechia (2-4) on Sunday.
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.
CAN v MEX
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
Photos: Volleyball World