Canada clinches first win of 2021 VNL, stunning China 3-2

RIMINI, Italy - Canada clinched its first victory of the tournament after surprising Rio Olympic champion China 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 15-25, 15-12) here on Tuesday in the 2021 Women's Volleyball Nations League (VNL).

China's captain Zhang Changning scored 22 points while Canada's top scorer Van Ryk got a game-high 25 points.

Canada led 11-5 to start the first set before Zhang spearheaded China to fight back with a 6-1 run, cutting the score to 12-11. Van Ryk spiked successfully to help Canada take the first set 25-22.

The match was dragged into the tie-breaker where Canada broke away on 8-8 to nail down the victory.

"It's surreal. I can't believe it. Our team was fighting all the way through like coming down, yesterday we lost a five-setter, but today we knew how to come back and fight as a team," said Andrea Mitrovic from Canada.

"I think that our serving and passing were a key to this victory," she added.