Canadian women’s volleyball team fail to qualify for Tokyo 2020

Canada celebrates a point against the Dominican Republic during a NORCECA Olympic qualifying tournament match. (Gwyneth Roberts/AP)

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The Canadian women’s volleyball team will not be heading to Tokyo this summer for the 2020 Olympic Games.

At the NORCECA women’s Tokyo qualification tournament, the Canadians were eliminated from Olympic contention when they suffered their second loss in as many days — falling 3-1 (25-13, 21-25, 25-19, 25-15) to No. 10 Dominican Republic on Saturday.

Canada, ranked 18th in the world, opened the last-chance qualifying tournament on Friday with a 3-2 loss to No. 13 Puerto Rico.

Earlier on Saturday, the Puerto Ricans improved their record to 2-0 with a win over No. 21 Mexico. They’ll now play host Dominican Republic on Sunday with the tournament title and a spot in the Olympics on the line.

The Dominican Republic, which also remains unbeaten, opened the event with a 3-2 victory over Mexico.

Canada hasn’t qualified for the Olympic women’s volleyball competition since the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, Ga.

The Canadians needed to finish first at this three-day tournament in order to punch their ticket to Tokyo.

Instead, they will look to finish on a high note when they face Mexico in their third and final tournament game on Sunday.

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