Poland, currently in second place of the 12-team FIVB World Cup, beat Canada 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20) today at Hiroshima’s Green Arena.
Canada didn’t make it easy for Poland, threatening early on, but the Europeans showed their experience and dominated in blocking (14-3), and made fewer errors than Canada. Canada’s Sharone Vernon-Evans was top scorer with 19 points. More stats here.
“Poland have repeatedly shown us this year why they are one of the best teams in the world, if not the best, and there’s always a lesson to take away after you play this team,” said Dan Lewis, Canada’s coach. “I’m extremely proud of our team today. It’s the 10th match of the tournament and they’re fighting so hard for every point. They executed extremely well for 80 percent of every set, and the last 20 percent we need to refine our game a little bit, and when we do that, when we find this 20 percent – after 20 (points), basically – then we’re going to be able to compete with the best.”
Poland has won eight out of their 10 matches so far. Brazil is undefeated in number one position with one match left.
Canada’s captain Nicholas Hoag said after today’s match: “I think this was a pretty good match for us. We were tight with Poland in all three sets, against one of the best teams in the world, which is very important with this young group. I think we just need to polish some of the last few details at the end of sets, especially after 20 (points). We had the opportunity to win at least two out of three sets, and the game would have changed after that. Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the game we had today. But, like I said, just the small details that Poland didn’t miss at the end of those sets, and they ended up winning.”
Canada has four wins and six losses, with one match left, against host Japan (7-3).
The 12 participating teams in the FIVB World Cup are competing a single round-robin competition over 11 match days. Three games are played at each venue each match day.
The World Cup was last held in 2015 – Canada finished seventh overall.
Roster:
#3 Steven Marshall, Abbotsford, BC
#4 Nicholas Hoag, Sherbrooke, QC (captain)
#6 Ryley Barnes, Edmonton, AB
#7 Stephen Maar, Aurora, ON
#9 Jason DeRocco, Winnipeg, MB
#10 Sharone Vernon-Evans, Scarborough, ON
#11 Daniel Jansen Vandoorn, Langley, BC
#12 Lucas Van Berkel, Edmonton, AB
#13 Byron Keturakis, Surrey, BC
#15 Derek Epp, Saskatoon, SK
#19 Blair Bann, Edmonton, AB
#20 Arthur Szwarc, Toronto, ON
#21 Brett Walsh, Calgary, AB
#22 Blake Scheerhoorn, Belleville, ON
#23 Danny Demyanenko, Toronto, ON
Staff:
Dan Lewis, Head coach
Lionel Bonnaure, Assistant coach
Olivier Faucher, Assistant coach
Tracy Blake, Athletic therapist
Julien Boucher, Team manager
