June 22, 2024: After a five-set contest with Netherlands on Saturday, Canada earned its fourth win in a row and is guaranteed a spot in the men’s Volleyball Nations League quarterfinals that will be held in Łódź, Poland, beginning on June 27.

“It was just a wonderful week,” said coach Tuomas Sammelvuo of the Canadian men's team’s record in VNL’s third week of preliminary play. "I’m very happy that this week in the Philippines ended this way by winning a very difficult game, and when we were in trouble we had to find solutions. You need to struggle and find solutions during these matches. Every opponent is so tough.

“We were in trouble with our attacking today, which has been our strength, and Netherlands really gave us trouble…. The guys who entered the game did a good job.”

Despite Canada's win 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 28-26,14-25,15-9), Netherlands led in attack points (57-55), blocking (14-11) and ace serves (9-7), including six aces from opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz, who had 37 total points against Canada. Netherlands made a few more errors than Canada 30-27.

Canada had a team effort with Stephen Maar again leading scoring with 18 points.

"The guys had an amazing week here, and now we go to the Final 8. We have a little rest and a few practices and then we go to Poland to fight and get to the semifinals."

Week three ends on Sunday for the men's tournament. Canada has completed this phase with eight wins and four losses. 

• Standings: https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/standings/men/

Matches can be viewed at www.cbcsports.ca or VBTV. 

VNL Week 3
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

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