July 19, 2025: Fighting for its Volleyball Nations League life, a determined Serbia defeated Canada 3-1 (15-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-22) today in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The win ensures that Serbia will be allowed to play in next year’s VNL as they will safely not finish last in 2025 (currently 15th). Canada will also play next year, now in 14th of 18 teams. The the team that finishes last (18th) is relegated.
In today’s contest, Canada dominated the first set, but Serbia adjusted to pull off this important win. Overall, Serbia led in attack points (53-50), aces (4-3) and made fewer errors (26-29). Canada had the more effective block (8-4).
“We have to execute at a higher level if we want to be able to compete internationally,” said head coach Dan Lewis of Team Canada. “The statistics in general were not that bad, plus minus was good overall, but we didn’t have enough serving pressure on them and our attack dropped to a level that’s not sufficient enough to compete at a high level. We’re not digging enough balls and we’re not presenting ourselves with enough block-positive and slow down transition opportunities, and this has been a theme for some of our matches … We need to improve on this if we’re going to win.”
Brodie Hofer (15 points), Isaac Heslinga (14 points) and Xander Wassenaar Ketrzynski (11) led scoring for Canada.
Serbian opposite Drazen Luburić led all scorers with 20 points (18 kills and 2 aces)
Canada has four VNL wins (and seven losses) with a final match vs Ukraine on Sunday to wrap up VNL 2025’s preliminary rounds.
Link to standings: https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/standings/men/
VNL week three roster (Men)
1 – Daenan Gyimah – Middle Blocker – Scarborough, ON
2 – Luke Herr – Setter – Winnipeg, MB
3 – Jesse Elser – Outside Hitter – Calgary, AB
5 – Brodie Hofer – Outside Hitter – Langley, BC
11 – Xander Ketrzynski – Opposite – Toronto, ON
13 – Max Elgert – Setter – Edmonton, AB
15 – Jackson Young – Outside Hitter – Toronto, ON
16 – Jordan Schnitzer – Middle Blocker – Surrey, BC
18 – Justin Lui – Libero – Pickering, ON
20 – Jordan Canham – Opposite – Avonmore, ON
21 – Jackson Howe – Middle Blocker – Calgary, AB
22 – Isaac Heslinga – Outside Hitter – Orangeville, ON
33 – Fynn McCarthy – Middle Blocker – Lake Country, BC (Captain)
97 – Landon Currie – Libero – Coldstream, BC
99 – Skyler Varga – Outside Hitter – Muenster, SK
Week 2 Results (Chicago)
Canada v Brazil 0-3 (22-25, 17-25, 17-25)
Canada v. USA 0-3 (23-25, 22-25, 28-30).
Poland v. Canada 3-2 (30-32, 14-25, 25-17, 25-23,15-13)
China v. Canada 0-3 (23-25, 20-25, 23-25)
Week 1 Results (Quebec)
Germany v. Canada 2-3 (25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 23-25, 11-15)
Argentina v. Canada 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 14-25, 25-22, 15-8)
Canada v. France 2-3 (22-25, 27-29, 29-27, 25-21, 6-15)
Bulgaria v. Canada 0-3 (24-26, 23-25, 19-25)
Global tournament web site: https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/
Media Contact
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676