Canada Advances To Quarterfinals At Pan Am Cup
Canada advanced to the quarterfinals on Wednesday defeating Trinidad and Tobago 25-15, 25-22, 25-23 at the Pan Am Cup men’s volleyball tournament.
The Canadians, represented by its national B team, and Trinidadians were tied for third spot in Group A after both losing their opening two matches. The top-three in each of the two groups advance to the playoff round.
“We have achieved all the goals we set for ourselves and have gained experience as a young team,” said Max Burt of Gander, N.L. “We were executing the plays and although the first set was easy, the others were well fought.”
Christopher Hoag of Sherbrooke, Que., and Lucas Van Berkel of Edmonton led the Canadians with 10 points each.
“We were forced to work hard after the first set and we showed improvement game after game,” said Canada’s head coach Larry McKay. “We made good shots and our service went through good rallies that got the victory. It was difficult at the end of the third set but we took full advantage of some mistakes.”
Canada faces Brazil in its quarterfinal on Thursday.
Canadian team for the Pan American Cup men’s volleyball tournament July 9-14 in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic (name, school or club, hometown):
Alberta
Lucas Van Berkel, Trinity Western University, Edmonton
Ciaran McGovern, National Training Centre, Grande Prairie
Jay Blankeneau, University of Calgary, Calgary
Blair Bann, National Training Centre, Edmonton
British Columbia
Steven Marshall, Trinity Western University, Abbotsford
Manitoba
Dane Pischke, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
New Brunswick
Jacob Kilpatrick, National Training Centre, St. John
Newfoundland and Labrador
Max Burt, National Training Centre, Gander
Ontario
Sander Ratsep, National Training Centre, London
Reid Halpeny, National Training Centre, Grand Bend
Quebec
Chris Hoag, University of Calgary, Sherbrooke
Saskatchewan
Braden McLean, University of Saskatchewan, Birch Hills
Staff:
Head coach: Lawrence McKay
Assistant coach: Stephen Michael Leknois assistant-coach
Assistant coach: Tilen Kozamernik
Athletic therapist: Luc Campbell
Team manager: Sophie Gadoury
Story from the Volleyball Canada Website | Volleyball.ca
