June 12, 2025: The Canadian men moved to 1-1 in Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2025 action after falling 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 14-25, 25-22, 15-8) to Argentina at the Vidéotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec.

It was the second straight five-set thriller for Canada after defeating Germany the night before. After Argentina took the first set, Canada stormed back to win the next two including a decisive 25-14 third set that made it look like Canada was on its way to their second win of the event. But Argentina pushed back, taking the final two sets and the win.

Head coach Dan Lewis still found the positives in the experience for his young squad: “These guys are just very focused. They know that they have to expand their limits, their growth, and how they play. Max (Elgert) did an awesome job. Brodie (Hofer), very strong again. Everyone – really great again.... it's about them taking that next step. Drive – that's the message. You have to drive, you don't just try to survive.

“In the last little bit of the game today, Argentina was at their top level, hitting smart. There are just a few opportunities in the middle of that that you lose. And if you just impose a little bit more, in my opinion, it's just a few mechanics and mechanics can happen quick. You just impose these on them and we go right to the wire.

“They (Argentina) fell apart there in the middle. And you could see in that fourth set, they started to talk a little bit. They wanted that South American fire. Our guys were super disciplined. I was really happy about that.”

Xander Ketrzynski led the way for Canada with 22 points, including 19 off the attack. Brodie Hofer was close behind him with 17 points, while Jackson Young – who led the team in points in game on – had 15. Team captain Fynn McCarthy led both teams in blocks, earning five points off his stops.

"First of all, I had a ton of fun; it was an exciting match to play," McCarthy said. "We went with a different lineup today. Everybody on our roster is ready to play and ready to compete at a high level. (I’m) proud of the guys that got their first VNL start tonight. I wish we would have come out on top, but we'll take the lessons and improve and keep moving forward."

Canada will now have a day off before facing the second-ranked team in the world and current Olympic champion, France, on June 14 at 4:30pm ET.

The Volleyball Nations League introduced a new format in 2025 with 18 men’s and 18 women’s teams. Each team will play 12 preliminary phase matches over three weeks, with weekly pools of six teams competing across three venues.

VNL Week One 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
8 - Mason Greves – Setter – Calgary, AB
9 - Matthew Neaves – Opposite – Calgary, AB
10 - Ryan Sclater – Opposite – Port Coquitlam, 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
22 - Isaac Heslinga – Outside Hitter – Orangeville, ON
26 - Cory Schoenherr – Middle Blocker – Waterloo, ON
33 - Fynn McCarthy – Middle Blocker – Lake Country, BC (Captain)
97 - Landon Currie – Libero – Coldstream, BC
99 - Skyler Varga – Outside Hitter – Muenster, SK

Link for tickets: https://bit.ly/43VIvXK

Global tournament web site:  https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/

Volleyball Canada Media Contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676