August 29, 2022: Canada earned its first win at the Men’s Volleyball World Championship in Ljubljana, Slovenia, today, defeating China 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-23).
“I’m happy with the 3-0 win; that matters for a lot of reasons. Fatigue and recovery in this tournament are a big deal as well we know there are a lot of teams vying to get into the next round and every set will matter. Most importantly, we were able to build on that third set we played with Italy (that went to 39-37),” said Canada’s head coach Ben Josephson.
“We are getting better and that’s what we need to do for Türkiye. We’ve got 48 hours to recover and prepare and hopefully continue to get better with each set of this tournament.”
Today, Canada came up on top on attack points (41-35), service aces (5-3) and made fewer errors, but China led in blocking points (7-4). Canada’s Ryan Sclater led scoring with 16 points.
On Saturday, Italy beat Canada 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 39-37). Canada is 1-1, and faces Türkiye on Aug. 31 as Pool E play continues.
The competition, held in Poland and Sovenia, sees 24 teams spread across six pools of four, playing in a single round-robin format. The top two nations in each pool and the four best third-placed teams will qualify for the elimination round.
Schedule:https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/men-world-championship-2022/schedule/
How to watch: Purchase a Volleyball World TV subscription or in Canada, www.cbcsports.ca online
Team Canada Roster:
#3 – Derek Epp – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
#4 – Nicholas Hoag – Sherbrooke, Quebec (captain)
#5 – Eric Loeppky – Steinbach, Manitoba
#7 – Stephen Maar – Aurora, Ontario
#8 – Brett Walsh -Calgary, Alberta
#10 – Ryan Sclater – Port Coquitlam, British Columbia
#11 – Pearce Eshenko – Banff, Alberta
#12 – Lucas Van Berkel – Edmonton, Alberta
#17 – Ryley Barnes – St. Paul, Alberta
#19 – Brodie Hofer – Langley, British Columbia
#20 – Arthur Szwarc – Toronto, Ontario
#21 – Jackson Howe – Calgary, Alberta
#22 – Steven Marshall – Abbotsford, British Columbia
#24 – Mathias Elser – Calgary, Alberta
Head Coach: Ben Josephson
Assistant Coach: Joe Trinsey
Assistant Coach: Mike Hawkins
Strength & Conditioning: Mike Cook
Sport Physiotherapist: Jovana Smoljanic
Chiropractor: Abe Avender
Statistician: Mateusz Nykiel
Team Manager: Cassandra Nicol
High Performance Director: Julien Boucher
Volleyball Canada Media Contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676
Photo: FIVB