Canada edges Dominican Republic to collect bronze in U-19 girls Pan Am Cup volleyball

KINGSTON — Canada’s under-19 girls’ volleyball team collected the bronze medal with an exciting victory over the Dominican Republic on Saturday at the Pan American Cup.

Canada won the best-of-five match 3-2, taking the tiebreaker 15-10 at Queen’s University Athletic and Recreation Centre.

The United States beat Mexico in the gold-medal final.

Canada led in attack points 58-50, blocking 10-4, while Dominican Republic had one more ace (11-10). Canada also made more errors 35-24.

Opposite Sydney Bell (16) and outside hitter Sol Henson (14) led in points for Canada. Ambar Hernández (16) and Julie Millaray Arias (13) were top scorers for the Dominican Republic.

“It was a great team effort for us,” said Canada’s head coach Gina Schmidt. “The Dominican team served tougher than they did in the previous match we played against them. We were in system a lot in our first match, and they added some service pressure today, which got us out of our rhythm with our offence.

“Once we kind of settled that down and put on more pressure from service from our side, we were able to work our way back into the match. I loved the way our team reacted in that fifth set. Everyone found a way to contribute, so that’s important as we head into the next tournament.”

Most teams, including Canada, at the Pan Am Cup were using the tournament to prepare for the FIVB Girls’ U19 2025 World Championship, which will be held in Serbia and Croatia in early July.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2025.