Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 7, 2016 - It was a “red” letter day for women’s Beach Volleyball in Canada as the North American country posted two wins here Sunday in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games highlighted by a comeback win by Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas.
Broder and Valjas, the only Canadian women’s team to win a FIVB World Tour event, rallied from a first set setback to Laura Giombini and Marta Menegatti of Italy to score a 2-1 (15-21, 21-18, 15-9) Pool D win in 60 minutes. Earlier Sunday in a Pool E match, Heather Bansley and Sara Pavan posted a 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) win in 39 minutes over Jantine van der Vlist and Sophie van Gestel of The Netherlands.
In the third-and-deciding set, Broder and Valjas jumped out to a 6-1 lead and never looked back. With Giombini getting an ace to make the score 7-5, the Canadians scored three-straight point to regain the momentum.
Broder and Valjas join their three other pool rivals in taking Monday off before resuming play Tuesday when the Canadians play group favorites Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany, who defeated Doaa Elghobashy/Nada Meawad of Egypt 2-0 (21-12, 21-15) in 34 minutes. The FIVB World Tour’s top-ranked team, Ludwig and Walkenhorst have won five of six international matches with Broder and Valjas.
