July 16, 2025: The Canadian men are back in action at Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2025 after a two-week break. Today, Canada fell to week-three host, Slovenia, 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-21) in Ljubljana.

Canada got off to a solid start winning set one, but Slovenia pushed back, sweeping the next three sets to ultimately take the match in four. Canada led the way in blocks 10-6, but Slovenia maintained the lead in attack points after the first set loss, 51-44. Mistakes cost both teams, but Slovenia had the edge in points of opponent errors, 33-28.

Brodie Hofer led the way for the Canadians with 11 points, leading the way in points off the block with three. Xander Ketrzynski was just behind him with 10, all off the attack which led the team, and team captain Fynn McCarthy finished in third on the team with nine points.

Tonček Štern of Slovenia led the match in scoring with 21 points.

"This is the first time (in VNL 2025) that we had a longer travel schedule, so it was a good test for our guys. They did pretty well, but you could see that when the game opened up, we looked a bit out of system and a bit disorganized. But they guys were able to bring it back every time so I'm happy for that," said Canada's coach Dan Lewis.

"We lost our efficiently in attack and we needed higher attack numbers to compete.... congratulations to Slovenia for the win, but I do feel we missed an opportunity. It's a little bit disappointing but i know the guys will get refocused and collect themselves to push hard in the next three games we have (in Slovenia)."

Canada's next match is July 18 vs. Netherlands. 

Through nine games, Canada has a 3-6 record and sits 14th in the tournament. The top eight teams move on to the elimination round and the team that finishes last (18th) will be relegated from next year's VNL.

Canada will now have a day off before playing their final three preliminary-round games in three-straight days against Netherlands (July 18), Serbia (July 19), and Ukraine (20).

Link to standings: https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/standings/men/

VNL week three 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
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
20 - Jordan Canham - Opposite - Avonmore, ON
21 - Jackson Howe - Middle Blocker - Calgary, AB
22 - Isaac Heslinga – Outside Hitter – Orangeville, ON
33 - Fynn McCarthy – Middle Blocker – Lake Country, BC (Captain)
97 - Landon Currie – Libero – Coldstream, BC
99 - Skyler Varga – Outside Hitter – Muenster, SK

Week 2 Results (Chicago)
Canada v Brazil 0-3 (22-25, 17-25, 17-25) 
Canada v. USA 0-3 (23-25, 22-25, 28-30).
Poland v. Canada 3-2 (30-32, 14-25, 25-17, 25-23,15-13)
China v. Canada 0-3 (23-25, 20-25, 23-25)

Week 1 Results (Quebec)
Germany v. Canada 2-3 (25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 23-25, 11-15)
Argentina v. Canada 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 14-25, 25-22, 15-8)
Canada v. France 2-3 (22-25, 27-29, 29-27, 25-21, 6-15)
Bulgaria v. Canada 0-3 (24-26, 23-25, 19-25)

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