The Canadian women's national team ended a 32-year wait and qualified for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. The team led by Giovanni Guidetti defeated host Dominican Republic in the final of the NORCECA Olympic qualifier in Santo Domingo.
Canada became the first women's national team to secure a quota for the Olympic tournament in Los Angeles 2028. The USA already has guaranteed participation as the host of the Games.
For the Canadians, this will be their first Olympic appearance since Atlanta 1996. Since then, they have missed seven consecutive editions – Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and Paris 2024.
Dominican Republic – Canada 1:3 (15:25, 25:20, 23:25, 14:25)
Canada started the final strongly and after 6:6 in the first set, gradually pulled away to reach 25:15. The Dominican Republic responded in the second and after 19:19 made the decisive difference for 25:20 and 1:1.
The third set proved crucial. The two teams were evenly matched in its final part, but the Canadians snatched 25:23 and took the lead again. In the fourth, Guidetti's team already controlled the development of the match and closed it with a decisive 25:14.
Alexa Gray and Kiera Van Ryk were the top scorers for the winners with 22 points each. Van Ryk scored 20 points from attack and 2 aces, while Gray had 18 from attack and 4 aces. Nyadholi Tokboom added 11 points, 7 of which were from blocks. For the Dominican Republic, Brayelin Martinez finished with 19 points, and Yonkaira Peña with 13.
Canada had a significant advantage in attack – 56:40 points, as well as an advantage in blocks – 8:7, and in aces – 8:3. The Dominican Republic received 27 points from opponent errors against 23 for Canada.
The Olympic quota comes just days after another historic success for Canadian volleyball. Guidetti's team won their first NORCECA title in their history, after defeating the USA 3:2 (25:23, 25:23, 20:25, 18:25, 15:10) in the final. Previously, Canada had two silver and 11 bronze medals in the continental championship, but had never won gold.
After the title, Canada immediately had to turn its attention to the Olympic qualification. In the semi-final, the Canadians defeated Puerto Rico 3:0 (25:16, 25:22, 25:10), while the Dominican Republic made a comeback against Cuba for 3:1 (20:25, 25:19, 25:17, 25:15).
The success continues Giovanni Guidetti's strong second season at the helm of Canada. The Italian specialist took over the team in 2025, and this season the Canadians reached the final tournament of the Nations League for the first time. They finished the VNL in sixth place – Canada's best ranking in the history of the competition.
After securing the Olympic quota, Guidetti recalled that Canada had two main goals for the season – reaching the VNL finals and qualifying for Los Angeles 2028. Both have now been achieved, and between them came the historic first NORCECA title.
Dominican Republic: Peña 13, H. Martinez 7, A. Rodriguez 1, B. Martinez 19, Gonzalez 3, Gaila 6, Castillo (libero); Y. Rodriguez, Tapia, Heredia 1. Head coach: Marcos Kwiek.
Canada: Fransen 2, Gray 22, Tokboom 11, Van Ryk 22, Johnson 0, Maglio 8, Jost (libero); Baker, Guimond 5, Smrek 2, Andjelic. Head coach: Giovanni Guidetti.
Aces: 3:8. Blocks: 7:8. Attack efficiency: 34%:43%. Duration: 1:41 hours.
photo:norceca.info
