July 07: Canada won a bronze and earned two U21 Beach Volleyball World Championship berths yesterday.

Canada’s Ofure Odigie (Brampton, ON) and Ruby Sorra (Scarborough, ON) beat Laura Molina and Sofía Vega of Costa Rica 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) at the NORCECA U21 Beach Volleyball Qualifier at Juan Dolio beach in Dominican Republic in the match for bronze.

The American duo of Zoey Henson and Sarah Wood claimed the women's gold medal at this U21 qualifier, defeating Puerto Rico’s Miabella Musignac and Alanis Nieves 2-0 (21-13, 21-11).

Five women's teams qualified for the World Championship from this event: United States, Costa Rica, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala.

On the men's side, pairs from the Dominican Republic, United States, Canada, and Costa Rica secured spots in the semifinals on Saturday, therefore earning their qualification to the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship, scheduled for October 15-19 in Puebla, Mexico.

Canada’s men’s pair of Louis Charbonneau and Henry Heider finished fourth after losing the bronze match to Melvin de Jesús and Ramón de Jesús 2-0 (21-18, 21-12) of Dominican Republic on Sunday.

Today (July 07), 17 countries will begin competing in the NORCECA U18 Beach Volleyball Qualifier, the official event to secure spots in the 2025 FIVB U18 World Championship. More info: www.norceca.net

Gstaad Update

Canada finished fifth at the Beach Pro Tour Elite16 in Gstaad, Switzerland.

On Saturday, Paris 2024 medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson were eliminated by eventual Gstaad winners Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher of the United States 2-1 (19-21, 25-23, 15-7) in the quarterfinals.

The next Elite16 event on the Beach Pro Tour schedule is in Montréal from August 13-17.

______

July 07 is World Volleyball Day – read more here.

Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender
Mobile: 1.613.794.7676