JUNE 11, 2026: Canada’s men’s team beat Olympic champions France today at the Arena at TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, in the first week of men’s Volleyball Nations League.

The 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 21-25, 27-25) victory marked the first time ever that Canada has defeated France since VNL began in 2018.

“I’m obviously super grateful; we have a lot of skills that we have been working on and were able to put those on display tonight,” said Olympian Stephen Maar. "We were able to sit with it down the stretch and go point by point with a really strong, technical team. And I’m glad we were able to outlast them."

The partisan crowd was behind Canada as the fourth set went into extra points. Canada now has a 1-1 record this week one of men’s VNL.

"The performance yesterday (five-set loss to Germany) wasn’t what anyone wanted, but with a crowd like this it’s easy to find the motivation to get back at it."

Top scorers for Canada included opposite Xander Ketrzynski with a match-high 20 points; followed by Eric Leoppky with 18 and Maar with 12.

Canada led in attack points (58-53), dominated blocking (15-7) and today made fewer errors than its opponent 22-24. France did have an impressive six aces compared with one for the home team.

France started VNL yesterday with a 3-2 win over Italy.

Canada has a day off on Friday, but meets USA on Saturday, which can be viewed on CBC Sports/Radio-Canada domestically and VBTV worldwide.

Canada has hosted VNL in Ottawa at TD Place since 2018, with the men last playing the nations capital in 2024.

Tickets: https://www.tdplace.ca/event/volleyball-nations-league/

Team Canada Players
Landon Currie – Coldstream, BC
Danny Demyanenko – Toronto, ON
Max Elgert – Athabasca, AB
Pearson Eshenko – Banff, AB
Mason Greves – Calgary, AB
Daenan Kofi Gyimah – Scarborough, ON
Luke Herr – Winnipeg, MB
Brodie Hofer – Langley, BC
Zachary Hollands – Victoriaville, QC
Jackson Howe – Calgary, AB
Xander Ketrzynski – Toronto, ON
Eric Loeppky – Steinbach, MB
Stephen Maar – Aurora, ON
Erik Siksna – Markham, ON
Arthur Szwarc – Toronto, ON
Skyler Varga – Muenster, SK
Sharone Vernon-Evans – Scarborough, ON
Jackson Young – Toronto, ON

Staff
Dan Lewis – Head Coach
Juan Manuel Mendez – Assistant Coach
Chris Voth – Assistant Coach
Damian Musiak – Performance Analyst
Meredith Waisman – Sport Physiotherapist
Nicholas Poelman – Chiropractor
Kyle Paquette – Mental Performance Coach
Donna McDonagh – Mental Health Lead
Emilie Rousseau Comtois – Sport Dietician
Cassandra Nicol – Team Manager
Julien Boucher – High Performance Director

Tournament website: https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league

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