Italy came out aggressively, but Canada came back for the win 1-3 (25-15, 20-25, 22-25, 18-25) today in the final weekend of men’s Volleyball Nations League pool-play action in Brazil.
“We had a slow start today. Our reception was not very efficient and it affected our offence,” said Canada’s coach Glenn Hoag. “We got our focus back and we played point by point. We ran a more diversified offence and we served really well. We now turn our attention to host Brazil.”
Stephen Maar was Canada’s top scorer with 19 points; Nicholas Hoag added 16 and Ryan Sclater brought in another 15 in a well-balanced scoring performance by Canada.
Canada has won its last four VNL matches, but now faces host Brazil (2016 Olympic gold medalists) Saturday night and France on Sunday. All matches are streamed at www.cbcsports.ca and today’s match against Italy will be featured on “Road to the Olympic Games” on Saturday.
Women’s Team Wins Pool
Canada’s women’s team also had success on Friday night, beating Argentina 3-0 in their bid to qualify for next year’s women’s Volleyball Nations League. The Canadian team wins its pool and is on to the semifinals.