June 07, 2022: Canada fell to Team Germany 3-0 (19-25, 20-25, 28-30) in its opening match of the 2022 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) in Ottawa at the Arena at TD Place.

After dropping the first two sets, Canada made a hard push in the third, including a game-saving challenge from head coach Ben Josephson to extend the match. After an intense back-and-forth, it was Germany that came out on top.

“We’ve been working on being good and today we didn’t get them clicking the way we were hoping,” said Josephson. “Credit to how Germany served, we had some transition opportunities that let us down and that was the phase of the game that we needed to be better to keep it close early. I thought we found a great rhythm in the third set and we needed to play like that for all three.”

He continues, “This time of the season, that was our first meaningful game and that’s where the best learning is done. We’ve got great video that we can take a look at, at how teams are going to play us, and we’re going to have to an upgrade for Friday. That’s the cool part about this new VNL schedule, you get a bunch of practice time in the middle of the VNL block.”

Stephen Maar led Canada with 18 points, with team captain Nicholas Hoag coming up with 12.

The Canada game was the second and final match of the day, after Team Serbia came out on top of Team Bulgaria 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20) to open Men’s VNL in Ottawa.

All four teams that played Day 1 get a rest on Day 2, while Poland will take on Argentina at 4:30 pm ET before France battles Italy at 7:30 pm ET.

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

Members of the media requiring accreditation for the Ottawa, June 7 to 12 (men) or Calgary (women) VNL matches, please contact Jackie Skender
For more info, please see the VNL web site, including full schedule.
Please note: Tickets for the men's VNL in Ottawa are currently on sale at https://www.tdplace.ca/event/volleyball-nations-league/

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Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender
Mobile: 613.794.7676