June 08, 2024, OTTAWA: Canada beat USA today in Volleyball Nations League men's week 2 action at the Arena at TD Place in front of more than 7000 spectators, a record attendance for this tournament in North America.

The final score was Canada 3 USA 1 (25-16, 19-25, 26-24, 28-26).

Canada’s Stephen Maar dominated scoring with 24 points; Thomas Jaeschke led the USA with 21 points. Overall, Canada led in attack points 56-49, United States led in blocking 8-5, Canada led in aces 8-5 and errors were even at 29.

"We feel great; we won," said Canada’s head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo. "We were serving and passing a lot better as opposed to the last game (against Argentina) and our block defence was very good against a very difficult team to control in attack. But now, for us the most important thing is to be mature. After this game we have another important match to prepare for tomorrow. Serbia is one of the world's top opponents so it will be a big test for us. Of course I’m really happy with the atmosphere tonight. The support from the fans was very good."

Team captain Nick Hoag (Sherbrooke, QC) said: "I think the difference today was serve and receive… We were able to put a lot of pressure on the U.S. today. When they are in system, they are one of the best offensive teams in the world and we were able to keep them off net and work block defence. It was also a great atmosphere here tonight!"

Canada plays Serbia tomorrow in the final match of this leg of VNL.

Stats: https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/schedule/18910/#teamstats

Canada’s matches in Ottawa
Tue., June 4 - 8:00 pm EDT CAN vs. CUB (3-1)
Thu., June 6 - 8:00 pm EDT CAN vs. ARG (1-3)
Sat., June 8 - 4:30 pm EDT CAN vs. USA (3-1)
Sun., June 9 - 6:00 pm EDT CAN vs. SRB

Tickets (which include all matches that day) are still available:
https://www.tdplace.ca/event/volleyball-nations-league/

Matches can be viewed at www.cbcsports.ca or VBTV. VNL Week 2 (Ottawa)
Luke Herr – Winnipeg, MB
Brett Walsh – Calgary, AB
Ryley Barnes – Edmonton, AB
Nicholas Hoag – Sherbrooke, QC
Eric Loeppky – Steinbach, MB
Stephen Maar – Aurora, ON 
Brodie Hofer – Langley, BC
Pearson Eshenko – Banff, AB
Fynn McCarthy – Lake Country, BC
Danny Demyanenko – Toronto, ON
Lucas Van Berkel – Edmonton, AB
Xander Ketrzynski – Toronto, ON
Arthur Szwarc – Toronto, ON
Justin Lui – Pickering, ON
Reserves:
Jordan Schnitzer – Surrey, BC
Landon Currie – Coldstream, BC

Staff:
Head coach: Tuomas Sammelvuo
Assistant coach: Joao Paolo Bravo
Assistant coach: Michael Hawkins
Strength and conditioning: Michael Cook
Performance analyst: Damian Musiak
Athletic therapist: Schad Richea
Chiropractor: Abe Avender
Team manager: Cassandra Nicol
Director, high performance: Julien Boucher 

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