Canada beats Bulgaria 3-1 in opener at women's volleyball worlds

Andrea Mitrovic had a team-high 17 points as Canada beat Bulgaria 3-1 in its opening match Saturday at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Thailand.

Set scores were 25-23, 25-18, 23-25 and 25-18.

Canada led in attack points (51-46), blocks (13-6) and aces (5-3) while taking advantage of Bulgaria's multiple serve rotation errors in the second set.

Canadian middle blocker Nyadholi Thokbuom added 15 points from 12 kills and three blocks.

World No. 12 Canada is in Pool E with Bulgaria, Turkey and Spain. Turkey, ranked sixth in the world, leads the pool after defeating Spain 3-0.

Canada plays Spain on Monday.

"I am proud of the girls," said Canada head coach Giovanni Guidetti. "It was a very important match for us and we were ready to fight and the quality of our game was pretty good for most of the match.

"Now our focus is on Spain, which can be a very dangerous team that can play very fast."

MATCH REPLAY | Canada vs. Bulgaria: