U.S. Women Fall to Host Canada at 2026 VNL

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 4, 2026) – The U.S. Women’s National Team fell to 1-1 at the 2026 Volleyball Nations League (VNL), dropping its match to host Canada 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 30-28) on Thursday night in Quebec City, Quebec. It marked the first win for Canada over the U.S. at the VNL in four all-time matchups.

The U.S. (1-1), ranked seventh in the world, will play France (0-1) tomorrow at 5 p.m. PT.

Canada recorded statistical advantages in kills (40-34), blocks (10-7) and aces (5-2), while the U.S. made four fewer errors (29-25).

“We talked about being the aggressor and I don’t think we did that all night. I thought we were a little too passive. We were kind of waiting to see what Canada was going to do instead of coming out and enforcing our will. I think the same thing happened in the third set,” said U.S. head coach Erik Sullivan. “We can’t let this push us into the weeds too far. We just have to get ready for France. You learn something in every win and loss. We’ll go back and look at the film, try to clean up the stuff we can clean up and praise the stuff that we can praise.”

“I think it came down to the small things like it always does in a tight match like that. It’s a learning opportunity for us to be more creative and try to find solutions, which is what we’ve been trying to figure out over the last two summers. A big thing for us will be to figure out how to score in uncomfortable situations and working at that as a team. We have to take what we learned from this loss and keep going and I’m sure we will,” said setter Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres, who entered the match in the second set and gave the U.S. a spark.

Outside hitter Simone Lee-Wank (six kills, two aces and a block) and opposite Jordan Thompson (nine kills) each scored nine points. Middle blocker Asjia O’Neal shared match-high honors with four blocks and posted three kills for seven points. Outside Avery Skinner finished with five kills. Lexi Rodriguez had 12 digs.

Neither team led by more than two points until the final point of the first set. A Thompson kill put the U.S. ahead 19-17 before Canada scored three consecutive points to retake the lead. Skinner scored on a back row attack to even the set at 21 but Canada scored four of the final five points. Thompson paced the U.S. with three kills. The teams combined for 19 errors in the set with 10 by Canada.

Canada kept the momentum early in the second set with an ace capping a 7-2 start and forcing a U.S. timeout. A kill by Thompson and an ace from Lee-Wank keyed a 4-0 U.S. run that cut the deficit to a point, 8-7. Canada responded with a 7-3 stretch to regain its five-point lead, 15-10. Samedy and O’Neal kills from Ka’aha’aina-Torres cut the deficit to two points, 16-14. The U.S. nearly pulled within two points down 19-16 when an O’Neal serve missed landing in by a sliver.

The U.S. did pull within two points on four more occasions, twice on kills from Lee-Wank before Canada took its second consecutive set by a 25-22 score. O’Neal led seven U.S. scorers with three points on two kills and her fourth block of the match.

A Lee-Wank kill after back-to-back Canada errors gave the U.S. a three-point lead for the first time in the match, 8-5. Two Molly McCage kills put the U.S. up 11-8 and the lead stretched to four points, 14-10, when O’Neal put down a set over the net after a great scrambling defensive effort by the U.S. to get the ball over the net. A Lee-Wank kill on a counterattack raised the margin to five points, 17-12. Lee-Wank served an ace for a 20-14 advantage.

Canada used a 11-4 run to take a 25-24 lead. Lee-Wank produced a kill and a block for a 26-25 U.S. lead. Canada scored the next two points for another match point, but a Lee-Wank kill tied the set again. A tip point gave Canada its third match point, but Thompson registered a kill to square the set again. Canada scored the final two points to earn its first 2026 VNL win after falling to Germany in its opener.

U.S. Women’s Week One Roster for 2026 VNL

No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1 Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Penn State, Oklahoma)
3 Avery Skinner (OH, 6-1, Katy, Texas, Univ. of Kentucky, Lone Star)
6 Morgan Hentz (L, 5-9, Lakeside Park, Ky., Stanford, Pioneer)
7 Asjia O’Neal (MB, 6-3, Southlake, Texas, Univ. of Texas, North Texas)
8 Lexi Rodriguez (L, 5-5, Sterling, Ill., Univ. of Nebraska Great Lakes)
10 Simone Lee-Wank (OH, 6-1, Menomonee Falls, Wisc., Penn State, Badger)
11 Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres (S, 6-0 Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Texas, Aloha)
12 Jordan Thompson (OPP, 6-4, Edina, Minn., Univ. of Cincinnati, North Country)
14 Anna Hall (MB, 6-2, Laurens, S.C., Univ. of Louisville, Palmetto)
20 Rachel Fairbanks (S, 6-0, Tustin, Calif., Pitt, Southern California Southern Nevada)
27 Madi Kubik-Banks (OH, 6-4, West Des Moines, Iowa, Univ. of Nebraska, Iowa)
29 Molly McCage (MB, 6-3, Spring, Texas, Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
33 Logan Eggleston (OH, 6-1, Brentwood, Tenn., Univ. of Texas, Southern)
34 Stephanie Samedy (OPP, 6-2, Clermont, Fla., Univ. of Minnesota, Florida)
77 Sami Francis (MB, 6-6, San Diego, Calif., Stanford, Southern California Southern Nevada)

Head Coach:  Erik Sullivan
Assistant Coach: Tayyiba Haneef-Park
Assistant Coach: Brandon Taliaferro
Assistant Coach: Rob Browning
Statistician: Virginia Pham
Physiotherapist: Kara Kessans
Physical Trainers: Shannon Boone, Shawn Hueglin
Mental Performance Coach: Nicole Davis
Team Doctors: Lori Boyajian-O’Neill, James Suchy, Chris Koutures, Mark Hutchinson
Team Manager: Shannon Slatter

U.S. Women’s Schedule for the 2026 Volleyball Nations League
Matches will be shown live and on-demand on VBTV.
(All times PDT)

Week 1: Quebec City, Quebec
June 3 USA def. Ukraine, 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-23)
June 4 Canada def. USA, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 30-28)
June 5 at 5 p.m. vs. France
June 7 at 11:30 a.m. vs. Germany

Week 2: Philippines
June 16 at 9 p.m. vs. Dominican Republic
June 18 at 1 a.m. vs. Czechia
June 20 at 1 a.m. vs. Italy
June 20 at 9 p.m. vs. Serbia

Week 3: Osaka, Japan
July 7 at 11:30 p.m. vs. Thailand
July 8 at 9 p.m. vs. Poland
July 9 at 9 p.m. vs. Türkiye
July 11 at 8 p.m. vs. Brazil