September 3, 2023: Canada pleased its sold-out home crowd, winning the bronze medal 3-1 (25-21, 25-17, 17-25, 25-16) over Cuba on the final day of the 2023 NORCECA Senior Women’s Volleyball Continental Championship at the PEPS’ Amphithéatre Desjardins-Université Laval.
Canada’s offense produced 53 attack points, compared with 47 for Cuba; dominated in blocking (16-8). Cuba led in service aces 7-5 and errors were 17-18 in Canada’s favor.
Kiera Van Ryk of Surrey, B.C. again led all scoring with 24 points; followed by Canadian teammates Jazmine White (14, including 6 blocks), Hilary Howe (10) and Emily Maglio (10). Greisy Fine led Cuba in scoring with 16 points. Cuba finishes fourth overall.
“I thought the third set was messy, but while we struggled again with first contact in the first two sets, we showed some patience,” said Canada’s head coach, Shannon Winzer. “We know that we are a physical team, compared with Cuba, and we really wanted to show that today. It wasn’t the cleanest volleyball we have played this week, but we did what we had to do to pull off the win. I think it was a real team effort today.”
Canada’s next stop is the Olympic Qualification tournament in China, Sept. 16 to 24.
“This is preparation for the Olympic qualifier – we wanted to try out some subs in a few different situations and we wanted to try out different lineups and starting rotations. Coming away top three in NORCECA is excellent, but it’s also good preparation. We had a chance to play the Dominican team, who we will face again in China, and we had a good showing against them and learned a lot.”
Canadian outside hitter Hilary Howe said: “We went into this tournament really wanting to gun for the final; so the bronze-medal match is always challenging when you want to be in the final. But I’m proud that we pulled it together and did the best we could to get the medal and finish strong in the tournament. It was good for us to come together and compete again before the Olympic Qualifier.”
In the final, Dominican Republic upset USA for gold in five thrilling sets: 3-2 (12-25, 25-21,19-25, 25-19, 15-13).
Team Canada:
3 – Kiera Van Ryk, Surrey, BC
4 – Vicky Savard, Jonquière, QC
5 – Julia Murmann, Toronto, ON
6 – Jazmine White, Oshawa, ON
7 – Layne Van Buskirk, Windsor, 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.
26 – Quinn Pelland, Wanham, AB
Head coach : Shannon Winzer
-Results & photos: www.norceca.net
Volleyball Canada Media Contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676
Photo: Mathieu Belanger/NORCECA
