Canada beats Cuba 3-1 in Volleyball Nations League

OTTAWA — Canada opened the second week of men’s Volleyball Nations League action with a hard-fought victory over Cuba on Tuesday night at TD Place.

The 10th-ranked Canadian team, coached by Tuomas Sammelvuo, has already qualified for next month’s Paris Olympics, but is looking to peak for the Summer Games by playing hard in Ottawa.

Canada defeated ninth-ranked Cuba 25-21, 25-27, 25-20 and 28-26 to win the best-of-five match 3-1.

Canada dominated Cuba on the block (18-6), but both teams committed 25 errors.

Eric Loeppky of Steinbach, Man., was Canada’s leading scorer with 22 points, while Stephen Marr of Aurora, Ont., had 20 points.

Marlon Yant Herrera led Cuba with 23 points and Miguel Angel Lopez Castro added 18.

“This is the most organized Cuban team I’ve played against in a long time. They have some incredible spikes. They were missing some people at a stage in the VNL where everyone is starting to hurt a little bit,” Marr said.

“For us, it is very important to stay together. This is an example of a situation where team organization generally defeats talented spikers. I’m very happy how we came out against a strong team… With each match we start to play better and better. . It’s a good sign.”

Coach Sammelvuo was pleased with his team’s defense.

“We had 18 blocks against a very physical team and the boys executed well. Another key factor was attacking against a big block. We were very efficient with a few mistakes. It’s a great win and we want to improve for the next game. “

Canada will play 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Argentina on Thursday, followed by games against the United States (Saturday) and Serbia (Sunday).

Also in Ottawa this week are national teams from Italy, France and the Netherlands.

The VNL matches have extra importance this year as the teams that have qualified for Paris 2024 are preparing for that tournament and other teams are still competing for a place through the rankings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 4, 2024.

The Canadian Press