Canada beats USA in front of a record home crowd

OTTAWA, Canada, June 8, 2024.- Canada beat USA today in Volleyball Nations League men's week 2 action at the Arena at TD Place in front of more than 7000 spectators, a record attendance for this tournament in North America.

The final score was Canada 3 USA 1 (25-16, 19-25, 26-24, 28-26).

Volleyball Nations League 2024: schedule and results

Canada’s Stephen Maar dominated scoring with 24 points; Thomas Jaeschke led the USA with 21 points. Overall, Canada led in attack points 56-49, United States led in blocking 8-5, Canada led in aces 8-5 and errors were even at 29.

"We feel great; we won," said Canada’s head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo. "We were serving and passing a lot better as opposed to the last game (against Argentina) and our block defense was very good against a very difficult team to control in attack. But now, for us the most important thing is to be mature. After this game we have another important match to prepare for tomorrow. Serbia is one of the world's top opponents so it will be a big test for us. Of course I’m really happy with the atmosphere tonight. The support from the fans was very good."

Team captain Nick Hoag (Sherbrooke, QC) said: "I think the difference today was serve and receive… We were able to put a lot of pressure on the U.S. today. When they are in system, they are one of the best offensive teams in the world and we were able to keep them off net and work block defense. It was also a great atmosphere here tonight!"

United States finish week two with a 3-5 record. Canada plays Serbia tomorrow in the final match of this leg of VNL.