June 29, 2023.- Canada came out on top of a huge five-set battle with volleyball powerhouse Brazil today in Thailand, while United States and Dominican Republic swept Bulgaria and Korea respectively in Korea.
It was Brazil 2 Canada 3 (30-28, 22-25, 23-25, 25-21,15-17) in an overtime match, with underdog Canada showing composure under pressure during this women’s phase 3 match of Volleyball Nations League.
Brazil led in attack (75-64) and service points (4-3), but Canada out blocked Brazil 21- 13 (with 8 of those from Canada’s Emily Maglio) as well as made fewer errors. Canada’s Alexa Gray led all scorers with 25 points.
Canada plays Italy on Friday and Netherlands on July 01 to close out the third and final preliminary phase in Thailand.
Brazil, reigning Olympic silver medalists, has seven VNL wins so far; this is Canada’s fifth win.
The No. 1 team in the world, the United States (9-1), swept Bulgaria 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-17) leading in attacks (30-25), in blocks (16-6) and service points (7-3).
Jordan Thompson scored a match-high of 16 points (11 kills, 4 blocks, one ace). Outside hitter Kara Bahema added 14 points, leading blocks with 5 points.
The U.S. will get back on court on July 1 against Germany and will close week 3 against China on July 2, before heading back home to play the Finals.
Las Reinas del Caribe earned their fourth win beating Korea 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16).
Dominican Republic outclassed Korea with 48 points from kills against 29. They also led 10-3 in blocks and 5-3 in aces.
Gaila Gonzalez led Dominican Republic with 17 points (12 kills, 4 blocks, one ace) as the top scorer in the match. Middle blocker Jineiry Martinez and outside hitter Yonkaira Peña also scored double digits with 14 and 13 points respectively.
Dominican Republic plays China and Serbia (with the time zone difference it’ll be the same day in our continent).
Teams are vying for a spot in the quarterfinals (top 8): https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/vnl-2023/standings/women/
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