Canada advances to round of 16 at women’s volleyball worlds with win over Spain

NAKHON RATCHASIMA — Andrea Mitrovic had a game-high 22 points as Canada defeated Spain 3-2 on Monday at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship.

Set scores were 22-25, 28-26, 24-26, 25-15, 15-10.

Hilary Johnson added 19 points for Canada, which improved to 2-0 and assured itself of a top-two finish in Pool E and a spot in the Round of 16.

Lucia Varela led Spain with 16 points.

Canada, ranked 12th in the world, wraps up pool play on Wednesday against No. 6 Turkey.

Turkey leads the pool after winning its first two games 3-0.

Both Canada and Spain lost 35 points to errors, but Canada led in attack points (65-59), blocks (11-6) and aces (3-2).

“When Canada plays against Canada it becomes very difficult,” Canadian head coach Giovanni Guidetti said. “Today that happened; there were too many unforced errors.

“But at the end, with a very young squad and many players experiencing this level of play for the first time, we reached the round of 16 and we are extremely happy about the result.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2025.