Yahoo Sports Canadian women rebound against Iran after loss to Paralympic champ U.S. at sitting volleyball worlds
The Canadian women's sitting volleyball team wrapped up the first phase of the world championships on Sunday with a win over Iran, rebounding from a five-set loss to the reigning Paralympic champion United States earlier in the day.
Canada has a 2-1 record at the event in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The sixth-ranked Canadians entered the day riding momentum following a strong win over Slovenia on Saturday to open their tournament, but the top-ranked Americans outlasted them for a 3-2 victory (22-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-12, 15-7).
"That was a tough five-set loss to the U.S.A. but I couldn't be more proud of the way we showed up and competed," said Canada's women's head coach Nicole Ban. "We served aggressively and were able to utilize our offence against the number-one ranked team in the world. We are continually showing our improvements and ability to play the game at a high level."
The Canadians faced a quick turnaround against No. 14 Iran in the evening, but they managed to start strong and only dropped a tight third to win 3-1 (25-10, 25-14, 23-25, 25-13).
"We knew Iran was going to be a tough opponent," team captain Danielle Ellis told World ParaVolley. "The last time we played them was about six years ago in China, so we didn't have a lot to game plan on them, but we watched video from the last couple of days ... We just went out there and played our game with some tough serves to put them in trouble and just stayed aggressive the whole game."
The Canadian women will return to the court on Tuesday, but the final schedule has yet to be determined. They are searching for their first-ever medal at the event.
Canada roster - #2 Julie Kozun — Melfort, Sask.
- #3 Danielle Ellis (C) — White Rock, B.C.
- #4 Jennifer Oakes — Calgary
- #5 Payden Vair — Cardston, Alta.
- #6 Angelena Dolezar — St. Albert, Alta.
- #7 Anne Fergusson — Carleton Place, Ont.
- #8 Jolan Wong — Vermilion, Alta.
- #9 Sarah Melenka — Vegreville, Alta.
- #10 Jayme Lepp — Vancouver
- #11 Heidi Peters — Neerlandia, Alta.
- #14 Katelyn Wright — Edmonton
- #15 Felicia Voss-Shafiq — Burnaby, B.C.
- #16 Jennifer McCreesh — Smithers, B.C.
- #17 Allison Lang — Edmonton
Canadian men swept by Brazil
On the men's side, the 13th-ranked Canadians suffered a tough loss to No. 4 Brazil, falling 0-3 (23-25, 14-25, 19-25).
"Our final round robin match against Brazil was everything we knew it would be. The fourth-ranked team in the world showcased size in our match," said men's head coach Jeff Smith. "We passed very well, which allowed us to run our offence that kept the games close, but as a team we just couldn't execute when needed."
Canada (1-2) takes on No. 7 Ukraine on Monday at 6:45 a.m. ET in the round of 16 for a chance to advance. They swept Poland on Saturday after suffering the same fate against the eighth-ranked Germans in their opener.
All matches are being streamed live on World ParaVolley's YouTube channel.
