Canadian men end Volleyball Nations League campaign with 3-2 upset over Serbia

RIMINI, Italy — Canada’s men’s team rebounded from a two-set deficit and upset Serbia 3-2 Wednesday in its final game at Volleyball Nations League.

Set scores were 17-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-20 and 17-15 as Canada (7-8) finished the event on a five-match winning streak as the team got valuable experience heading into the Tokyo Olympics.

Canada moved past Japan into eighth place in the 16-team standings following Japan’s 3-0 loss to the United States later Wednesday.

The result dropped Serbia one spot into sixth place and ended any hope it had of finishing in the top four and advancing to the semifinals.

Ryan Sclater of New Westminster, B.C., led Canada in scoring for a second straight match with 17 points. Team captain Gord Perrin of Creston, B.C., added 14 points.

“I’m just really proud of the way we fought, especially coming back from 0-2,” Perrin said. “It was the last game of the tournament and we had every reason to fall terribly, but we found something in us and we were able to stabilize and play the game and we are happy that we won.

“Our reception broke down very badly in the first two sets — they were serving well — but we had to be better, we managed to stabilize our reception and everything else followed.”

Canada’s women’s team, which played its last game Sunday, finished in 14th place at 3-12 in their Nations League competition.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2021.

The Canadian Press