Canada’s Pavan/Bansley 3-0 in pool play; making ‘Rio’ noise at FIVB Cincinnati Open

Mason, Ohio, USA, May 20, 2016 – About the only thing that has interrupted the run to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for Canada’s Sarah Pavan and Heather Bansley was a toe injury to Pavan.She might have acquired the ailment getting her foot in the door for Olympic qualification. But since that injury forced them to withdraw from the FIVB Rio Grand Slam in March, nothing has been done to derail them, since the Canadian duo had built up a rather stunning amount of qualifying points.What’s next?“Ultimately, our goal is to medal in Rio and we want to increase our ranking,” Bansley said Wednesday after they finished pool play undefeated at 3-0 in the FIVB Cincinnati Open, presented by the AVP. “Right now we’re improving as a team and getting better every day.”They entered the tournament, their first since the Rio speed bump, ranked No. 5 in the world in the FIVB provisional Olympic Rankings. All that awaits after Cincinnati are the FIVB Moscow Grand Slam and the Swatch FIVB Hamburg Major, after which the final Olympic qualifications will be announced.It’s easy to see why Pavan and Bansley are among the world’s best. At 6-foot-5, Pavan is one of the more intimidating forces at the net. All Bansley has done behind Pavan, a four-time All-America college player at Nebraska, is be named the FIVB’s Best Defender in 2015.But it’s not only talent, it’s drive. They are a relatively new team on the circuit and with the help of coach Scott Davenport, they’ve set out to cover every possible angle to …

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