Canadian men rallying at final volleyball Olympic qualifier
Team improves to 2-2 at Tokyo tournament
Canada improved to 2-2 at a last-chance men's volleyball Olympic qualifying tournament Wednesday with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 27-25) win over Venezuela.
The top three teams and the top Asian squad will qualify for Rio. If the top Asian team is among the top three, the next team will also qualify. Poland leads the round-robin tournament, which also doubles as the Asian qualifier, with a 4-0 record.
Canada, ranked fifth in the standings, faces France on Thursday.
Wednesday, Gordon Perrin led Canada with 16 points, including 14 attacks and two blocks. Gavin Schmitt and Justin Duff contributed 12 and 11 points respectively, including two blocks each.
Kervin Martin Pinerua led Venezuela (0-4) with 12 points.
"We knew Venezuela has some powerful attackers, and if they came up with some good defence, it was going to be difficult for us," said Canada's captain Rudy Verhoeff. "So I'm happy with the way that our team received and it made our game efficient."
Coach Glenn Hoag said he was happy with he team's straight-sets win, especially after a five-setter against Australia the day before.
"The good thing today was bench players coming in to play, such as Steve Marshall and Rudy Verhoeff, to work the end and it really helped to give us some oxygen," said Hoag. "We also had a great performance by Gord Perrin, who is also tired, but was solid for us."