The women’s national team completed the second week of the Nations League with a three-set victory of 25-15, 25-12 and 25-18 against South Korea on Sunday in Arlington, Texas. With four matches to play before the elimination phase, Shannon Winzer’s team finds itself in a good position with a view to Olympic qualification for the Paris Games.
Defeated 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 24-26 and 20-25) by the Serbs on Friday evening, the Canadians bounced back in fine style 48 hours later by whitewashing the South Koreans. They thus signed a fifth victory in eight outings since the start of the event to consolidate their provisional sixth place in the Nations League rankings.
“There is no easy match! Against South Korea, we wanted to put pressure with our serves, work on the cleanliness of our counterattacks and ensure that our attackers varied their shots in terms of angles and types of attacks. Most importantly, we wanted to remember to have fun on the field. I think we did a really good job and we can build on that confidence heading into a very important third week,” commented coach Shannon Winzer after the victory.
Earlier this week, the Canadian team, which includes Quebecer Vicky Savard among its ranks, suffered a 3-1 defeat (22-25,17-25, 25-23 and 20-25) against the United States. , before winning 3-0 (25-20, 25-25 and 25-22) against Germany.
The 2024 Nations League is of capital importance for the maple leaf volleyball players who will have to finish the competition among the five best teams not qualified for the Paris Olympic Games in order to confirm their place for the big summer meeting.
For now, the Canadians are ahead of the Poles (8-0), the Brazilians (8-0), the Italians (6-2), the Japanese (6-2) and the Turks (6-2).
Of the lot, only the Italians and the Japanese have still not secured their Olympic qualification.
Canada will also face these two teams during the third and final week of the preliminary phase which will begin on June 11, in Fukuoka, Japan. Meetings against the Netherlands and France will also be on the schedule for this decisive sequence.
Note that the next week will be devoted to activities on the men’s side. Nicholas Hoag and his teammates from the men’s national team will also play four matches for Ottawa. They will face the Cubans, the Argentinians, the Americans and the Serbs.