June 12, 2022: The Canadian men wrapped up the first week of the 2022 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) by picking up a 3-2 (25-18, 25-18, 24-26, 21-25,15-11) decision over Bulgaria at the Arena at TD Place in Ottawa.

The hard-fought win was Canada’s first of the week after dropping matches to Germany, France and Italy. The team finishes the opening leg of VNL with a record of 1-3, while ending Bulgaria’s week with a winless 0-4 record.

“I’m just so incredibly proud of those athletes,” said Canada’s head coach Ben Josephson after his first VNL win behind the bench. “We had talked a lot about identity is a choice and as a team we’re continuing to work through that but also it’s important to impose your personality on the match and not just try to do the right things. Again, I’ve been so proud of them that they’ve engaged our learning so much and tonight we actually saw their personality show.

“The best part of the national team is that you’ve got all these players from across the country, all different ages, all different backgrounds, united under one flag. ... I thought the guys expressed themselves in their own unique ways and that blend let them play well and they were up to the task. I’m super proud of Nick Hoag to get his first win as team captain.”

For the third time this week, Stephen Maar led Canada in points with 25, while Ryan Sclater contributed 17, including the match-winning point.

In other action today in Ottawa, Poland and France kicked off the final day with the No. 2-ranked team in the world Poland defeating No. 3-ranked France 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22). Both teams finish the week 3-1. Italy then battled Argentina, coming out with a 3-1 win and finishing the week 3-1 as well, while Argentina finished 1-3.

The Canadian men now get a week off before heading to Sofia, Bulgaria, June 21-26, for the second week of men's VNL.

“I think it’s going to take a lot of time,” continued Josephson. "Every day we’re talking about how much further to get where we’re headed and today we got closer.... You’re not bad because you’re losing, you’re not good because you’re winning. What I loved is we found a lesson that you don’t learn a lot from losing but you get all these lessons exposed. And when you start winning and being successful then you start tacking these lessons to the wall and I felt like that happened today for us.

“We learned how to be us in a competitive match. And things weren’t going well for us for part of that match but they stayed consistent with who they were and I think that’s just an amazing lesson considering how much of this program we shook up to get settled a bit.”

After wrapping up their first week of VNL with a 2-2 record, the women’s national team is set to play Week 2 in Quezon City, Philippines before heading home to 7 Chiefs Sportsplex in  Tsuut'ina Nation, just southwest of Calgary, Alberta, for the third leg from June 28-July 3.

Tickets to VNL Calgary are on sale now.
All matches of VNL 2022 will be streamed on Volleyball TV and Canadian viewers can follow the action live on CBC Sports.

Roster (week 1)
Jay Blankenau, Sherwood Park, AB
Brett Walsh, Calgary, AB    
Ryan Sclater, Port Coquitlam, BC
Brodie Hofer, Langley, BC
Stephen Maar, Aurora, ON
Nicholas Hoag, Sherbrooke, QC (captain)
Ryley Barnes, Edmonton, AB
Mathias Elser, Calgary, AB
Justin Lui, Pickering, ON
Lucas Van Berkel, Edmonton, AB
Pearce Eshenko, Banff, AB
Jackson Howe, Calgary, AB
Marc Wilson, Stratford, ON
Jesse Elser, Calgary, AB
 
Staff (week 1)
Head coach: Ben Josephson
Assistant coach: Joe Trinsey
Assistant coach: Stefan Hübner
Sport physiotherapist: Jovana Smoljanic
Strength and conditioning : Michael Cook
Statistician: David Dantes
Team manager: Julien Boucher

For more info, please see the VNL web site, including full schedule.
Watch www.cbcsports.ca

Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender
Mobile: 613.794.7676

Photo: Steve Kingsman