FIVB World League: Canada Back On Track

Gord Perrin with (probably) one of his 15 kills on the night  Photo: FIVB, Phil MacCallum, Volleyball Canada

With a quick 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-20) win over Korea, Canada’s aspirations to finish atop of Pool C are alive and well as Canada closes out their FIVB World League play at home.

Canada’s men’s National team played with a confidence that has lacked in their other matches at home.  They finally showed the Canadian fans that for two matches in a row, they could dominate a match in its entirety, without any major lapses.

For the second night in a row, Canada got output from all players with Gord Perrin (15 kills, 1 block) and Dallas Soonias (13 kills, 2 blocks) leading the way, while Rudy Verhoeff led the team with 3 blocks, adding to the teams eight on the night.

Finally we’re seeing the Canadian team that most expected. Although it’s taken sometime to get used to it, maybe it’s our stereotypical Canadian friendliness that’s to blame, but our National team has taken on a new role, that of the bully on the playground.

Even during the few times that the team trailed throughout either match, the six on the floor had a calm confidence about them that lacked against both The Netherlands and Portugal.

Once again in the second match, the serve receive seemed routine, only allowing one service ace all night, while setter Dustin Schneider has the luxury of setting from the tape time and time again. His Korean counterpart, on the other hand, spent most of the night chasing after balls mishandled due to the Canadian serving pressure.

There was even an element of grit that wowed the crowd on multiple occasions. Korea’s fast and complicated offense, but general lack of power led to the Canadians engaging in multiple long rallies, most of which they ended up victors. Their seemed to be an eagerness to chase every ball that was absent before.

This match concludes an up and down Canadian tour, bringing the team a much-needed week off, before they head overseas to confront Finland then Korea. It could have gone better, but the two wins this weekend, paired with Japan’s surprising sweep of Finland, leaves Canada in good standing with 12 points and a 4-2 record.