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GATINEAU, Canada, June 25, 2015 – Canada topped Chile in a
five-set thriller (25-21,25-22,21-25, 20-25, 15-11) on Thursday
to finish on top of Pool A and guarantee a spot in the
semifinals at the U21 Men’s Pan American Cup, held at the Centre
Sportif de Gatineau.
With Canada’s Primer Minister Stephen Harper and his wife
Laureen watching from the stands, the host team got off to a
good start versus the combative South American team. Led by the
quartet of Brandon Koppers, Blake Scheerhoorn, captain Ryan
Nickifor and Arthur Szwarc, they managed to keep a narrow lead
over Chile to take the first two sets 25-21 and 25-22.
The third and fourth sets remained even, but Chile got the upper
hand towards the end and won 25-21 and 25-20 to even the score
and set the stage for the tie-breaker.
In the decisive set, two aces by Scheerhoorn and Nickifor –back
on court after resting in the fourth set- put Canada in the lead
6-4. An effective blocking allowed the Canadians to stop the
Chilean attack and they went on to win 15-11 and secure their
second victory of the tournament.
Scheerhoorn led the winners’ attack with 18 points. He was also
supported by Nickifor and Koppers with 15 each and Szwarc (11).
Captain Dusan Bonacic (24) and Simón Guerra (11) were the top
scorers for Chile.
Ryan Nickifor, captain of Canada: “I think we just need to
sustain our energy level throughout the whole game a little bit
better. We came out in the third a little bit tentative and we
need to keep pushing throughout every set. It’s good that we
have guys that can come off the bench and fill spots if guys
aren’t playing their role. Moving forward we just need to
sustain our energy for longer and we’ll come out on top.”
John Barret, head coach of Canada: “We started off really well
and were playing with a lot of confidence. Chile pushed back and
we knew they were a good team; they’re well coached and very
technical. When they pushed back we lost our confidence and
started playing in a tentative manner. When you play in a
tentative manner you will lose. It’s that simple. In any sport
at any time victory goes to the aggressor. We got our mood back
and played aggressively and came out with the fifth set. We are
very happy to win against a good team from Chile.”
Dusan Bonacic, captain of Chile: "We knew we need to show our
best game and we did it. It is a bitter feeling because we
believe we could have won this game, but in the fifth set we
made serious mistakes and they blocked our attack 4-5 times. Our
main opposite player did not play in the beginning so we used
our reserve hitter and our rhythm changed. Overall, it was a
great match and the atmosphere was awesome. We put on a good
show. We will play 100% against Barbados against tomorrow.
Our goal is to reach the final. |
