Canadian men outlast the Netherlands in volleyball Olympic qualification tournament opener
CBC
Canada's men's volleyball squad outlasted the Netherlands 3-2 in a five-set thriller on Saturday in Xi'an, China to start its Olympic qualification tournament campaign with a win.
The World No. 14 Canadians won the first set 25-21 before allowing the tenth-ranked Dutchmen to take control of the match with a 25-23 win in the second and a tight 26-24 victory in the third. Canada regained momentum to take the fourth frame 25-18 before clinching the tie-breaker at 15-12.
Toronto's Arthur Szwarc led the Canadians with 19 points, including two break points. Stephen Maar of Aurora, Ont. and Eric Loeppky of Steinbach, Man., added 18 and 17, respectively.
Canada edged the Dutch team in block points (13-5) and serve points (8-3). Captain Nimir Abdel-Aziz tallied 29 to lead the Netherlands.
WATCH l Canada tops Netherlands in China:
"It was a good victory, which is very important for the team and for confidence," said Canada's head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo in a statement. "But we are already focused on tomorrow and recovering for the [next] game."
Canada returns to the court to face Argentina on Saturday at 10.00 p.m. ET. The match will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
The two best-ranked teams in each of the three groups will qualify for Paris 2024. Teams are awarded points depending on the numbers of sets won and lost in a match, earning a total of five points in case of a 3-0 win — which leaves the loser of that match with no points to grab.
The Canadian women's volleyball team finished third in the same tournament this month and now need to retain a high-ranking position to secure one of the remaining Paris 2024 berths. That'll be decided in June.
Canada's men's volleyball team made the Olympic Games five times, recording its best finish in Los Angeles 1984 when they lost to Italy in the bronze medal match. The Canadian men were bounced in the quarterfinals in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021.
#20 Jordan Canham — Avonmore, Ont. #13 Samuel Cooper — Hamilton #97 Landon Currie — Coldstream, BC #6 Danny Demyanenko — Toronto #1 Pearson Eshenko — Banff, Alta. #2 Luke Herr — Winnipeg #4 Nicholas Hoag — Sherbrooke, Que. #5 Brodie Hofer — Langley, B.C. #80 Eric Loeppky — Steinbach, Man. #18 Justin Lui — Pickering, Ont. #7 Stephen Maar — Aurora, Ont. #16 Jordan Schnitzer — Surrey, B.C. #14 Arthur Szwarc — Toronto #12 Lucas Van Berkel — Edmonton #8 Brett Walsh — Calgary
WATCH l Full event replay: Canada vs. Netherlands:
Graham Thomas sees a calm confidence and a deep hunger in his team.
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