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DURANGO, Mexico, August 21, 2021.- Canada
advanced into semifinals with a five-set win
3-2(22-25, 25-22, 25-15, 22-25, 15-10) over
United States at the Men’s NORCECA Continental
Championship in Durango, Mexico.
Canada will play in Sunday’s semifinals and
United States will play classification matches
for positions 5-8.
Canada overpowered United States with
comfortable margins 54-43 in attacks, 17-9 in
blocks and 9-3 in aces, but they handed out 42
points on unforced errors; the U.S. allowed 29
points on errors.
Opposite Xander Ketrzynski scored a match-high
of 25 points, on 17 kills, 4 blocks and 4 aces
lifting Canada to recover from dropping the
first set; outside hitter Brandon Koppers
contributed with 19 points on 16 kills and 3
blocks and Mathias Elser added 10 points on 8
kills and 2 aces.
On the U.S. side, middle blocker Jake Hanes
scored 15 points, on 12 kills, 2 blocks and one
ace, joined by outside hitter Spencer Olivier
with 14 points on 10 attacks and 4 blocks.
Brett Walsh, Captain of Canada: “We fought
really hard and did whatever it took to win
tonight; we came on the court and did everything
we could to win. We had different players
stepping up at different times, some playing in
different positions that they usually do. We
have to come out with the same energy and focus
in the semifinal match”.
Larry McKay, Coach of Canada: “Our players made
good plays, they performed well tonight. Our
team had a good match with their skills and got
rewarded for it. We have to improve everything
for our next match”.
Joshua Tuaniga, Captain of United States: “I
think we lacked consistency with our volleyball,
there were a lot of times during the match we
played really good volleyball and then there
were some dips. Canada played a really good game
of volleyball and that’s just what it came down
to. We have a lot of young guys who are hungry
to play the game and I’m excited for the future
of USA”.
Andy Read, Coach of United States: “Canada
played really strong and a few points better
than us. I liked how our guys were down (1-2),
fought to get the fourth set, hands off to them.
In the fifth set, Canada did a couple of serves
to get some separation and we couldn’t catch
up”. |
