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Türkiye's women's national volleyball team faces Canada on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL), with a place in the semifinals on the line.
The match is scheduled for 11.00 Türkiye time (04.00 Eastern Time) at the East Asian Games Dome in Macau, a special administrative region of China.
Türkiye finished the round-robin stage in fourth place with 9 wins from 12 matches and 25 points. Canada, coached by Giovanni Guidetti, ended the stage in fifth with 8 wins and 24 points. Guidetti previously led Türkiye's national team from 2017 to 2022 and has served as head coach of Istanbul club VakıfBank's women's volleyball team since 2008.
The two sides have met 12 times in official competition, with Türkiye winning 11 of those matches. The most recent meeting came at the 2025 World Championship, where Türkiye defeated Canada 3-0. Türkiye also won 3-0 in the 2023 VNL and 3-0 in a 2025 VNL match played in Istanbul. Canada's sole win in the rivalry's recent history came in the 2022 VNL, a 3-1 result.
Türkiye, coached by Daniele Santarelli, opened this year's VNL season with 2 wins and 2 losses before winning all four matches during the tournament's second week in Ankara, defeating Belgium and France without dropping a set and beating Germany and China in five-set matches. Opposite hitter Melissa Vargas scored 32 points against Germany and 36 against China during that stretch.
In the third week of competition in Osaka, Türkiye defeated Poland 3-1, lost to the United States 3-2 in a deciding set, and then beat Japan 3-1 to secure a place in the finals stage.
Türkiye closed the round-robin stage with a 3-1 win over Thailand, a match in which the team recorded 18 blocks and Vargas scored 25 points. The result marked Türkiye's eighth consecutive appearance in the VNL finals.
Canada opened the tournament by defeating the United States 3-0. The team went on to beat Bulgaria and Poland, including a five-set win over Poland, while losing to Thailand.
Opposite hitter Kiera Van Ryk surpassed 1,000 career VNL points during this stretch and ranked among the tournament's leaders in scoring, attacking, and serving.
In the third week, Canada defeated China and Belgium before losing 3-2 to defending champion Italy despite winning the first two sets. Canada closed its schedule with a 3-1 win over the Dominican Republic.
Türkiye's roster for the finals stage includes Vargas, middle blockers Zehra Gunes and Sinead Jack-Kısal, outside hitter İlkin Aydın, setter Cansu Ozbay and libero Gizem Orge.
Canada's roster includes Van Ryk, outside hitter Alexa Gray and team captain Emily Maglio, a middle blocker.
The winner of the Türkiye-Canada match will face the winner of the quarterfinal between the United States and host nation China in the semifinals on Saturday. In the tournament's other bracket, Italy and Brazil have already advanced to the semifinals after defeating the Netherlands and Japan, respectively.
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