September 2, 2024: The Canadian women’s sitting volleyball team won their final match of the preliminary round at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-13) over Rwanda, earning a spot in the semifinals.

"It was kind of ugly volleyball for us and that's okay,” veteran Sarah Melenka said. "I was sitting out there on the court and I'm just like, ‘this moment only happens every four years and just to embrace every single ball that comes over no matter what.’... We weren't playing our best. So, it was a tough match. We had to grind it out, but we got the job done.”

Team Captain Danielle Ellis had a dominant showing, with a team-leading 21 points in the match. Julie Kozun had 12 points and both Jennifer Oakes and Melenka had 10. Oakes led the defensive charge with three blocks.

Ellis currently sits second in the entire tournament with 49 points, Melenka fifth with 36, Oakes sixth with 35, and Peters ninth with 31. Oakes’ nine points off blocks are tied for the tournament lead, and Peters’ 11 points off serves are second.

"We're happy with the outcome 3-0,” head coach Nicole Ban said after the match. “Obviously, that's what we wanted to do but I know this team has another level and we can play much better volleyball and much cleaner volleyball.

"We don't know the team on the other side as well as the other opponents here, so I'll give us a little bit of a break but moving forward I think we need a little bit of rest and then we need to come back and really focus (on the semi)."

Canada finishes pool play with a record of 2-1, defeating Slovenia 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-12) in their first match and falling to Brazil 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19) in the second game. This earned Canada the second-ranked spot in Pool B.

Canada will play its semifinals’ match on September 5 against the winner of Pool A, which is still open to Team China, Team USA, or Team Italy with China currently holding the position. The opponent will be confirmed after Pool A wraps up preliminary play on September 3.

Full schedule and results: paralympic.org and World ParaVolley

Team Canada: paralympic.ca
Watch the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on CBC Sports: cbc.ca/sports/paralympics

• Media attaché in Paris: Courtney Killion

Photo: World ParaVolley

Volleyball Canada Media Contact:

Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676