Canada remains unbeaten at volleyball World League
After hosting the second leg of the intercontinental round in Saskatoon, Volleyball Canada’s men’s team remains undefeated in 2016 FIVB World League action.
This past weekend, the Canadian squad continued to post good results with wins against China, Portugal and South Korea. With six wins so far in the competition, Canada sits atop Group 2 with just two lost sets.
Team Canada opened up its home games defeating South Korea 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-20) on Friday. Gordon Perrin and Nicholas Hoag topped Canada’s effort, with 11 points each.
Team Canada celebrates the victory over China / Photo: FIVB
Playing China for the third time in a month, Canada proved its superiority and beat the Asian team in straight sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-17), as Perrin and Gavin Schmitt were joint Canadian top-scorers, with 16 points in the home court victory.
Wrapping up its World League hosting weekend, Canada continued its winning ways and downed Portugal in four sets (24-26, 25-15, 25-23, 25-21). Toon van Lankvelt was the top scorer of the match, with 16 points.
Cuba, Portugal and Finland are the next opponents for the Canadian squad in the last stop of the intercontinental round, from July 1-3 in Tampere, Finland.
Once the last leg ends, the top three ranked teams will head to Portugal to play in the final round, which could lead to a promotion to Group one next season if certain FIVB conditions for eligibility are met.
2016 World League
RELATED: Rio 2016 qualification tracker
As in previous Olympic years, the 2016 FIVB Volleyball World League is a shortened version of the competition to accommodate teams taking part in Rio 2016. The Intercontinental Round sees three different venues hosting matches over each of the three weeks of play.
