Canada stun Türkiye in front of their home fans

June 30, 2022 World Sports

Canada fed from the energy of their fans in their first-ever Volleyball Nations League home match to secure a huge win against last year’s bronze medallists Türkiye on the opening day of the third and final week of the Preliminary Phase of the 2022 edition of the tournament in Calgary.

The Canadians stunned the Turkish with a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23) victory on Tuesday to start the third week of competition in a strong manner. Canada are now ranked 15th in the FIVB World Rankings, while Türkiye are sixth. The Canadian power at the block was arguably the biggest difference between the two teams. While the North Americans produced 14 block points, the Europeans were only able to stop their opponents four times.

Offensively, outside hitter Alexa Gray and opposite Kiera Van Ryk led the way for the winners. The 27-year-old Gray was her team’s top scorer with 22 points (18 kills, four blocks) while the 23-year-old Van Ryk added another 20 with 18 kills and two aces.