The Canadian Men’s Volleyball team won a tight hard-fought match Saturday against the U.S. national squad as part of the Volleyball Nations League tournament.
Canada took three sets to one for the Americans in front of an energetic home crowd at TD Place, with a VNL North American attendance record of 7,042 fans in the stands.
Canada won the first set 25 to 16 but the tables were turned when the U.S. won the second 25 to 19.
The third set featured more back and forth action with a number of massive spikes from the Canadians. They won the set 26 to 24 and went into the fourth set in a favourable position.
The game ended with Canada winning the fourth set 28 to 26 and a standing ovation from the home crowd.
Canadian outside hitter Stephen Maar finished the game with the most points at 24, beating his average of 18 points per game.
While the U.S. lost Saturday’s match, they finished this week’s tournament winning two games to one. They beat Argentina three sets to zero and Serbia three sets to one.
Canada will look to continue their success Sunday with their final match in Ottawa against Serbia.
They previously won three sets to one over Cuba, but lost to Argentina three sets to one.
Both the U.S. and Canada have already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics in July. Both teams will head to Manila, Philippines for the next leg of the Nations League tournament.
