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Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team is headed to the final four.
The Canadians kept their perfect tournament alive Wednesday, sweeping Iran 25-19, 25-22 and 25-22 to punch their ticket to the semifinals at the 2026 World Sitting Volleyball Championships in Hangzhou, China.
Five matches in, Canada is still unbeaten. However, the road only gets tougher from here, as the Canadians now have a date with world No. 1 United States early Thursday (1:30 a.m. ET) for a spot in the gold-medal match.
In the quarterfinals match, Captain Heidi Peters put together another solid performance, leading the way against Iran. She finished with a match-high 24 points to go along with 16 kills and seven aces.
Julia Chisholm added 10 points for the Canadians as well, while Amber Brown and Katelyn Wright each chipped in seven.
Peters knew Canada was in for a battle against an Iranian team that never makes things easy.
“Iran is a very feisty team, very strong,” Peters said. “They hit the ball very hard and have a really strong team culture and really great attitude.
“We had scouted them and knew what to expect, so I am really proud of our team for showing up and just playing our game because they are a really tough opponent.”
While the women kept their medal hopes alive, the men’s team came up short in its first classification-round match.
Canadian men’s results
Canada dropped a straight-set decision to Croatia, but the score didn’t tell the whole story. The Canadians pushed Croatia in each set before falling 25-23, 28-26 and 25-19.
“We started off strong and built a big lead, but they popped back and were able to come back and win that first set,” said Canada’s Dariusz Symonowicz.
“We battled hard the whole game, and unfortunately we went down 0-3. They are a strong team. They have some big hitters and big blockers, and we wish them well in their next match.”
The Canadian men will continue classification play against China on July 16 local or July 15 at 9 p.m. ET.
The men’s and women’s finals are set for July 17, but the hardware isn’t the only thing teams are chasing. The tournament also offers the first chance to qualify for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
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