Things are getting tough for Canadian volleyball players at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Xi’an, China. Defeated in four rounds by the Belgians, Nicholas Hoag and his teammates slipped to provisional third place in Group C.
A single round decides between the men’s teams of Belgium and Canada, while the two best teams in Group C will obtain a ticket to Paris. First place is occupied by the Poles, still undefeated in six matches.
Like the Belgians, the Canadians have a record of 4 wins and 2 losses, but have lost nine rounds since the start of the tournament, compared to eight for their opponents.
Friday evening, the Belgian players were the first to register by winning the initial set 25-14. Those of the maple leaf responded by running away with the second engagement with a score of 25-22. Their opponents, however, had the upper hand 30-28 and 25-16 in the next two sets.
Stephen Maar was the top scorer in the Canadian camp with a total of 19 points, followed by Eric Loeppky and his 14 points. Sherbrooke’s Nicholas Hoag made three striking attacks.
Head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo believes that the Canadian team lacked intensity and opportunism in this game.
“Today, Belgium was much better than us,” we read in a press release from Volleyball Canada. We can say that we played two rounds and that in the other two, we did not show up. We arrived waiting to see what would happen, without being aggressive enough, especially in attack. »
Everything will be decided on Sunday regarding Olympic qualification. Canada will face Mexico, which has lost its six matches so far, while Belgium will face Bulgaria.