Canada wins bronze in front of home crowd

 

September 07, 2019: Canada won the bronze medal match over Mexico in a 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-12) sweep today at the Men’s 2019 NORCECA Continental Championships today in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

 

Ryan Sclater was the top individual contributor on the scoreboard with 17 points, followed by teammate Stephen Maar with 15.

 

Canada led in all aspects of the game, but the team’s blocking was particularly effective – with 14 points compared with three for Mexico. Canada also led in service points – 6-1.

 

Ridl Alexis Garay was the only Mexican player to reach double digits with 10 points.

 

Canada will join Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico next January in the Continental Olympic Qualifier. The USA is the only NORCECA men’s team to have locked up a Tokyo 2020 spot so far, winning its pool at the FIVB Qualifier in August. 

 

Canada’s head coach Glenn Hoag:

“With the exception of the second set, where we made too many unforced errors, I think the guys were really well focused.  Our blocking has always been good, we want to improve on our defense and our consistency - we lose our focus sometimes, and start making mistakes.  Now the challenge is for the guys to go to their clubs and stay healthy for January when we face Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico again.”

 

Stephen Maar, player #7 Canada:

“It’s great to play at home. We definitely found some weaknesses in our game, so that will be important to work on, and we’d rather figure those things out now than in January.  We feel good – our job was to qualify, we tried to beat Cuba yesterday, but what really matters is in January. 

Overall, we blocked really well and served at times quiet well.  But we made mistakes and now we can take away the lessons from here and move forward.”

 

Mexico head coach, Jorge Miguel Azair Lopez:

“We didn’t play as well as what we are used to, but it’s time to turn the page and focus on the next tournament for us, which is the Olympic qualifier. Now the different players go to their professional leagues in Europe and other places, so it will be a challenge to prepare, but we will do our best.”