Canada won its semi-final over Croatia and will play Czech Republic in the 2019 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Challenger Cup final today. The winner of the Volleyball Challenger Cup earns a place in 2020 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Last night, Czech Republic defeated Argentina 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-23), while Canada swept Croatia 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 26-24) in semis at Manuel Bonilla Coliseum in Lima.
Despite Croatia’s serving ability (8-1 margin), Canada won the semi-final match scoring on 26 opponent errors while committing 13 on their side. Once again, Alexa Gray led Canada with 17 points, joined by Kiera Van Ryk with 10. Samanta Fabris led Croatia, scoring 17 points.
“It wasn’t our best volleyball, but we found a way,” admitted Canada’s coach Tom Black. “Croatia put a lot of pressure on us behind their serving line. It was a good battle and we’re looking forward to learning from it and going up against a very solid Czech Republic team.”
2019 FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup (women) – finals schedule
Sunday, June 30
3rd -4th 16:00 Croatia vs. Argentina (local time)
1st -2nd 19:00 Canada vs. Czech Republic. (8 pm ET, 5 pm PT)
- Live stream: FIVB Youtube.
Men’s team to face France today
Brasilia, Brazil, June 29, 2019 – Brazil defeated Canada on Saturday night in straight sets 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-19) to lead the preliminary round of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Brazil’s coach Renan Dal Zotto: “Our team played a great volleyball tonight. We knew that it would be a tough match, as Canada is good in all aspects of the game. We were super aggressive with our serves, which helped our block and defence system. I am satisfied with our performance.”
Canada coach’s Glenn Hoag: “Playing with Brazil is always a hard task. For me they are the best team in the VNL. It does not matter who they put on the court it is a great level of execution. They defended really well, and served really well putting pressure upon us. It was a good learning experience. For us it is important to play matches of this level.”
Canada’s final pool play match is Sunday (June 30) vs. France at 3 pm ET, available on www.cbcsports.ca
Link to info on Sunday’s match : https://www.
Photo: FIVB
