May 15, 2026: Canada survived the first five-set match of the tournament to advance to the semifinals of the U19 NORCECA Boys’ Continental Volleyball Championship in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Canada won 3-2 (18-25, 25-21,25-20, 25-27,15-13) on Thursday night over a skilled Mexican squad bolstered by a 36-point performance by Francisco Sebastian Merino Romero.

Canadian captain Hendrix Lepp helped the winning side with 30 points, and teammate Justin Jamieson added 23 points.

Canada led in attack points (70-59) and blocks (11-8), but Mexico led in aces (10-2) with six from Romero alone. Mexico also gained more points from Canada’s errors 29-25.

Canada’s U19 head coach Adam Schriemer was relieved after the long match: "We learned more about the mental consistency you need in long matches against good teams. There were a lot of ups and downs today, but the mental consistency is something that’s really important. I think most of the game we were able to hold that, except for the first set, which was pretty nervy. The lesson today is that we have to slow down the opponent’s best player earlier in the match. Number 18 for Mexico (Romero) was awesome and we didn’t stop him."

Canada won its pool (Group A) and advances directly to the semis. The USA also directly qualified for the semis from Group B with a perfect record. The top four finishing teams earn a berth to the U19 World Championship in 2027.

“A major accomplishment is that we’ve qualified for the World Championships, we’re really happy and proud of that and now we are focused on competing for a medal this weekend," said Schriemer.

The semifinals will be held on Saturday at Simon Fraser University’s West Gym in Burnaby. Tickets are still available or watch on CBC Sports, CBC Gem & YouTube.

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/norceca-u19-tournament-4828765

U19 Athletes
1 - Joaquin Lopez - Markham, ON
3 - Jaden Hoff – St. Catharines, ON
4 - Hendrix Lepp – Vancouver, BC
5 - Lennon Mari – Lloydminster, SK
6 - Hudson Penz – Red Deer, AB
8 - Jacob Hughes – Vancouver, BC
9 - Nathan Herfst – Burnaby, BC
11 - Andrew Pook – Cambridge, ON
12 - Joseph Vanderkooi – Abbotsford, BC
15 - Jordan Low-Ring – Toronto, ON
22 - Cameron Johansen– Toronto, ON
23 - Odin Pleau – Waterloo, ON
51 - Justin Jamieson – Sandford, ON
99 - Julian Josephs – Uxbridge, ON

Head Coach: Adam Schriemer
Assistant Coach: Scott Koskie
Assistant Coach: Andrew Jones
Athletic Therapist: Tristan Sandhu
Physiotherapist & Medical Lead: Victoria Drouin
Performance Analyst: Martin Ambrozic
Team Manager: Cassandra Nicol
High-Performance Director: Julien Boucher

Additional tournament information is available here.

Explore Burnaby is the presenting sponsor of the tournament.

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