Canada to play Cuba for 2028 Olympic berth in men's volleyball
Canada, the world's 13th-ranked men's indoor volleyball team, celebrates its second three-set sweep of Mexico in five days in Moncton, N.B. The Canadians are one win away from qualifying for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. (Ron Ward/Volleyball Canada)Social SharingCanada is inching closer to a 2028 Olympic berth in men’s indoor volleyball.
The world’s 13th-ranked team can secure its spot for Los Angeles on Saturday with a victory over No. 16 Cuba in the NORCECA qualification final at 6 p.m. ET in Moncton, N.B.
For the second time this week, Canada’s 14-member outfit swept Mexico 3-0 in sets, by scores of 25-21, 25-18, 25-13 in the first of Friday's semifinals.
The Canadians, fresh off Wednesday's five-set defeat to the United States in the gold-medal match of the NORCECA Continental Championship, also in Moncton, outscored Mexico in attack points (42-31), blocks (8-0) and aces (8-2) at Avenir Centre.
"This was the last step before our final goal," Canada head coach Dan Lewis told Volleyball Canada. "[Our players have] executed everything they’ve needed to do up until this point. Now they need to rest and prepare for the final."
On Tuesday in Moncton, Canada swept Cuba in the continental semifinals to clinch its spot at the World Cup in Poland next Sept. 10-26.
The Canadians boasted the top four scorers in Friday's match, led by captain Eric Loeppky, who was named best spiker at the continental championship. The 28-year-old outside hitter from Winnipeg had 17 points, followed by Sharone Vernon-Evans (13) and Jackson Howe and Stephen Maar (10 each).
Fynn McCarthy of Kelowna, B.C., added seven points, following up his best server award with a match-high four aces.
Canadian men lose gold-medal match to U.S. at NORCECA tourney
Canadian player Xander Ketrzynski reminded he and his teammates need only to stick to what got them to the final.
“Just keep playing like ourselves. It’s just another volleyball game," the 26-year-old Toronto native said. "Sometimes at these big moments you can get a little bit ahead of yourself but at the end of the day, you got here for a reason, you’ve got to keep performing that way.”
Mauro Fuentes Rascón and Diego González, the top scorer in the continental championship, shared the scoring lead for Mexico with eight. Jesus Izaguirre contributed nine digs.
“Mexico fought hard, but our guys showed up to play," added Ketrzynski. "They battled, they executed and we played the way we’re supposed to, the way we practised all summer. Our hard work showed today."
Lewis noted it was important for his charges to understand there would be an initial storm of aggressive serving by the Mexicans and if they built momentum, the Canadians would need to stay cool and return pressure on serves.
Canada fell behind 14-9 in the first set but took eight of the next 10 points, capped by a Maar ace, for a 17-16 advantage and didn't relinquish the lead.
Neither team led by more than four points in the second set until Canada went ahead 23-17.
"Continue to identify the opportunities to take points," Lewis said. "After that, we switched and had more service pressure on them. We started to dig balls and that really put them at a big disadvantage."
The Canadians held leads of 8-4 and 15-7 on the way to a convincing third-set victory.
Canada's squad has competed at six Summer Games, achieving its best result with a fourth-place finish in 1984, also in L.A.
Canada also swept the Mexicans in 2024 Olympic qualifying and placed 10th in Paris.
In 2016, Mexico finished 11th in Rio after ending a 48-year Olympic absence.
Doug Harrison has covered the professional and amateur scene as a senior writer for CBC Sports since 2003. Previously, the Burlington, Ont., native covered the NHL and other leagues for Faceoff.com. Follow the award-winning journalist @harrisoncbc
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