Canada fights for semifinal spot

BURNABY, Canada, May 14, 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.

Canada won 3-2 (18-25, 25-21,25-20, 25-27,15-13) 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 6 from Romero alone. Mexico also gained more points from Canada’s errors 29-25.

Canada’s 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 I think 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 was awesome and we didn’t stop him.

“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.”

The semifinals will be held on Saturday at Simon Fraser University’s West Gym in Burnaby.