Canada scored a three-set victory over China on Wednesday to improve to 3-1 at the men’s volleyball Olympic qualification tournament.
Stephen Maar, of Aurora, Ont., paced the attack with 20 points on four aces and 16 kills in attack in Xi’an as Canada blanked the host Chinese 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 26-24).
Eric Leoppky, of Steinbach, Man., had 17 points and 77 per cent spiking success rate, while Jordan Schnitzer, of Surrey, B.C., chipped in with 10 points.
“The guys stayed focused, despite being tired from the long and extensive [five-set] match against Poland [on Monday] We kept going back to the game plan and making those break points when we needed them most,” Nicholas Hoag, Canada captain and two-time Olympian, told Volleyball Canada.
The triumph moved Canada into second place in Pool C behind top-ranked Poland (4-0). The Canadians have nine points, one fewer than Poland and one more than Argentina (3-1) and Belgium (2-2).
Only the top two countries from each of the tournament’s three pools advance to the Paris Olympics next summer.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult game because there was a different type of pressure as we knew we needed the win,” said Canada head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo. “China caused us a lot of problems in attack, and we were just a little better and that was the key. And we were able to close the sets, so good work from the team.
“As I say after every game, now we recover and focus on our next opponent, which will be a difficult game against a very physical Bulgaria [outfit].”
The match versus No. 25 Bulgaria (2-2) is calendared for Thursday at 10 p.m. ET.
The Canadians then battle No. 21 Belgium (Friday, 10 p.m.) and No. 22 Mexico (Sunday, 4 a.m.) in single-match round robin pool play.
“Our fate is in our own hands, but we have Bulgaria and Belgium who have been playing really well and those will be two very tough games,” said Hoag. “And then Mexico to finish [the tournament] and they are a scrappy team with good defense.”
