Canada started and ended on a high note with wins over Serbia and Bulgaria.
After going down two sets to none on Sunday against Serbia, Canada's women's volleyball team put it all on the line and came back to take the next three straight sets (20-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-12). The team 鈥� which includes 黑马磁力 setter Brie O'Reilly 鈥� emerged triumphant, 3-2, wrapping up week 1 of Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2025 competition in Ottawa with a victory.
Canada, sitting 2-2, now has a few days off before they head to Istanbul, Turkey, for week 2 of VNL play.
They will kick off the second leg of the tournament against Korea on Wednesday, June 18, before facing off against fourth-ranked Turkey, second-ranked Brazil, and Belgium later in the week.
"It's not easy for me, but also it's not easy for the players,鈥� head coach Giovanni Guidetti said after Sunday's match.
鈥淚'm asking things that for me are obvious, but for them it's not obvious, because they're new to me. So, we are just trying to find the best way," Guidetti said of his first season with Team Canada.
"I try to try some positions, try some players, and I don't know them very well, so I don't know how they react. But at least they show me that it's a team that doesn't give up鈥�. Today was an incredible comeback because Serbia started very strong. Serbia is very strong. And I am very, very happy the way the team came back. I'm really proud of them,鈥� he noted.
Kiera Van Ryk was dominant on the court against the Serbians, putting up a massive 34 points, with 24 coming off the attack and nine coming from the serve line.
The Surrey player sits second in the tournament with 89 points and leads all players with 15 points off serving. Andrea Mitrovic and Hilary Johnson were tied for second on the team in points with nine apiece.
Van Ryk鈥檚 four consecutive aces in the third set put the spark back in Canada鈥檚 game.
鈥淸Van Ryk] showed me all winter that she can do that,鈥� Guidetti said of his team captain, who also played for him in Istanbul.
鈥淚'm really happy for her, because she's phenomenal鈥� And she's so important for this team. She has qualities that I [don鈥檛 see in] many players... She has human qualities before player qualities, and of course, physical qualities and technique.鈥�
The defeat over Serbia wasn't the only matchup where Team Canada was triumphant in week 1. They were also victorious against Bulgaria, taking three of those five games.
In subsequent days, they lost 1-3 to the Netherlands (25-18, 22-25, 25-15, 25-23) on Thursday, and despite fighting hard against undefeated Japan on Saturday, they lost 0-3 (24-26, 20-25,19-25).
"Japan is really tough to play against always, and we were right there with them,鈥� said O鈥橰eilly.
Japan led in attack points (39-33), serving (7-3) and made fewer errors (19-30). Canada, however, dominated in blocks 8-0.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just missing those after-20 (points) plays and finishing sets. We need to stay aggressive and take confidence that there was a lot of our game that was really great," O'Reilly added, suggesting the team needs to serve more aggressively and keep up the block-defence system.
鈥淥bviously, it's disappointing, and we never love to lose. But I'm hoping that we can take what we did wrong鈥� and grow from that for our next game," said Van Ryk. 鈥淚f we can fight a little bit more together, I'm so hopeful for us in the future."
Guidetti thanked all the supporters in Ottawa.
"The team got a lot from them, and they come very, very proud every match. It didn't matter if we're in front 2-0 or down 2-0, the crowd helps so much. Thank you so much, Ottawa," he said.
