Canada’s women’s national team looks poised to break out at next month’s World Championships in Italy after a solid showing at the recent Grand Prix tournament.
Despite an overall record of 2-7, Canada won its first two matches ever at the Grand Prix competition and battled against some of the best teams in the world.
Team Canada co-captain, Kyla Richey of Roberts Creek, scored 17 points in Canada’s final match, a win over Peru.
“This is exactly the type of competition that we need in order to make the necessary steps forward,” Richey said. “We’ve been saying for years that we can compete with the top NORCECA [North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation] teams and make strides with some very good European teams, but this year and last I feel like we’re stepping up a bit more. Especially this year, we’re realizing that we can be and are that good.”
The Grand Prix took place from July 21 to Aug. 23 with 28 countries participating.
Canada played Poland, Peru and Belgium in Peru, July 21 to 28, headed to Belgium July 29 to Aug. 4 for matches against the Netherlands, Argentina and Belgium, and wrapped up the tournament Aug. 4 to 11 in Argentina with matches against Peru, Cuba and Argentina.
Richey said Canada didn’t get off to a good start in Peru, but by the second weekend in Belgium, the team started to gain more confidence in its play.
“I was back in the starting line-up and tried to rally the troops as co-captain and one of the veterans on the team,” she said. “We played Belgium first and played better than the week before, despite losing in straight sets. We took down Argentina in a heart-stopping five-set thriller on Saturday night. It was an awesome game to be a part of, and it was so great to come out with a win.
“The next night we also took the Netherlands to five, which was also incredible. They’re a star-studded team and we proved to everyone that we can play with the best … and did it well.”
Richey said the last weekend in Argentina was a bit frustrating as they were dealing with a few outside factors (as well as complete exhaustion from going to South America and Europe for six days and then back to South America) and didn’t do as well as they had hoped. But finishing strong against Peru was a good way to end the tournament.
“The last game against Peru, my assistant coach told me it was a career-high game, and I finished with 17 points overall, also on a 52 per cent hitting efficiency,” said Richey. “It felt great to personally finish the tournament on a really high note.”
Richey ended up finishing 11th overall in total points scored in Canada’s group.
“I’ve been pushing myself to be a more dominating force on the international stage, and working towards being a go-to player in all aspects for our national team,” she said. “Being one of the veterans now, our win/loss record at Grand Prix, I feel, does not reflect the success we did have. Of course, we definitely should have had more wins under our belt, but given some circumstances, I thought we showed a lot of character in most of the matches and still proved we have taken some steps forward.”
Team Canada is off now until Aug. 27, when the team will reassemble in Winnipeg for a couple of weeks of training. Plans are to head to Slovenia to get in some exhibition matches before the World Championships.
“For us, our success is going to come from getting the best players on the court, and the best players that work well together,” Richey said. “Personally I don’t think there’s enough value placed on team chemistry and you still need to find that within any team, even at this high international level. The starting six is really going to have to gel and have that positive sense of playing together.
“Our team has a deep roster and we have great players coming in off the bench. We need to channel the confidence that I think we’ve gained the last four months and really go in hard with nothing to lose. We can definitely turn some heads when we’re playing hard and going for it, and it’s going to be a great challenge for us to show the world just how hard we’ve worked.”
To follow Richey and Team Canada, check out her website at www.kylarichey.com
