Host Canadians continue winning ways at 2026

NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship

 

MONCTON, Canada, September 12, 2026 – Canada delighted the home crowd for the second night in a row Saturday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at Moncton’s Avenir Centre.

 

The host Canadians beat Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-17) to run their Group A record to 2-0.

 

Canada held a slim edge for most of the first set, never leading by more than four. With the score 21-19 for the home side, Fynn McCarthy subbed in and hit three aces in a row. That set the stage for Eric Loeppky’s block to clinch the final point for Canada, one of a set-high seven points for Loeppky.

 

The second set started as a back-and-forth battle that saw Puerto Rico hold its only leads of the match. After falling behind by as much as four (13-9), the Canadians fought back to even the score at 15-15, then ran off 10 of the next 12 points to take the set. Canada, which beat Curaçao Friday, then took the third set by the same 25-17 margin.

 

Canada led the way in attacks (43-28), blocks (12-4) and aces (5-3). The hosts had the top four individual scorers, led by Loeppky (15 points), and Sharone Vernon-Evans (13), while Stephen Maar and Jackson Howe chipped in 12 each.

 

Pedro Molina (10 points) was the top scorer for Puerto Rico, which lost to Mexico Friday.

 

The nine-day tournament runs through Sept. 19, with eight teams competing for three berths to the 2027 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup in Poland. The tournament will also determine the teams that advance to NORCECA’s final qualification stage for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

 

Group A action wraps up Sunday, with Puerto Rico taking on Curaçao (0-2) at 1:30 p.m. Atlantic Time, while Canada meets Mexico (2-0) at 7 p.m.

 

Dan Lewis, Canada coach: “Puerto Rico is always a dangerous team because they have a long history of volleyball there. They can be very technical and they can get momentum. You always need to have big presence of mind to play this team, but we are on a mission here to make sure that we win the pool. That’s the first goal to set ourselves up for the proper execution of the second half (of the tournament). There was one phase in the second set where we weren’t exactly playing our style of intensity needed to execute at a high level, but the guys corrected themselves.”

 

Landon Currie, Canada’s libero: “We came out really strong and then the second set they started to push more and I think maybe we got a bit too comfortable. … Third set we found our groove again and closed out the match, which was great.”

 

On facing Mexico next: “Mexico is also a good team so we’ve got to come out swinging again, just take care of business and use that home crowd to get us through.”