Volleyball Canada – Nagano, Japan, October 4, 2019 – Canada is still seeking a World Cup victory, as Iran claimed its first win of the 2019 edition of the tournament on Friday. Iran came from behind to beat the Canadians 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-19) at Nagano White Ring arena.
“Iran executed their middle attack very well against us. We had problems finding solutions for this. We probably need to be a little bit more disciplined and better on defense, and then I think we’d have a few more opportunities,” said Canada’s coach Dan Lewis. “Our guys fought hard and fought well and they never gave up, so I was happy about that. We’ll probably have to take a look at the video and see how we can get a bit more efficient in transition. At tight moments we missed a few opportunities that I think changed the game, but I’m proud of the guys.”
Canada’s Sharone Vernon-Evans led all scoring with 24 points. Aliasghar Mojarad led the winning side with 15 points. Iran led in most aspects of the tight match, with Canada having in the slight edge in blocking points (8-6).
- Canada’s match highlights: https://youtu.be/IuoE1qn37JE
Canada’s team captain Nicholas Hoag said: “Iran really upped their level and their energy after the first set, and they put a little bit more pressure on their serves, which put us in big difficulty. On our side, I think we lacked a little bit of pressure on the serve. We had our chances but we had a hard time taking the opportunities to finish those sets.”
Canada is now 0-3, and plays Egypt on Saturday morning in Japan.
- Streaming schedule: www.cbc.ca/sports
The 2019 Men’s World Cup is held in Fukuoka (Marinmesse) and Nagano (White Ring), before teams move to Hiroshima for the remaining six matches at the city’s Green Arena.
The 12 participating teams compete in a single round-robin competition over 11 match days. Three games will be played at each venue each match day.
The World Cup was last held in 2015 – Canada finished seventh overall.
Official web site:
http://worldcup.2019.fivb.com/en
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
#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
Photo: FIVB
Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676