Canada falls 2-0 to U.S. in Olympic beach volleyball at picturesque venue

PARIS – Canada’s Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec lost their first beach volleyball match of the Paris Olympics Saturday, dropping a 2-0 decision to Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth of the U.S.

Canada went 21-17 and 21-14, with Bansley, of London, Ont., scoring 13 attacking points and Toronto’s Bukovec contributing three.

The Canadians gave up 14 points in errors across the two sets, including a run that saw the Americans jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first before Bansley and Bukovec whittled the deficit to a single point at 14-13.

After a day of on-and-off rain, the skies partially cleared ahead of the game, giving fans in the stands at the Eiffel Tower Stadium a spectacular view of a glowing orange sunset with cotton candy-pink clouds behind the iconic landmark.

Canada will be back on the court Sunday when Samuel Schachter of North York, Ont., and Toronto’s Daniel Dearing take on Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of Czechia.

Bansley and Bukovec will face China’s Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi in group play Monday, while fellow Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson play Giuliana Poletti and Michelle Sharon Valiente Amarilla of Paraguay the same day.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version had the wrong day in the first paragraph.