MANILA — sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ improved its chances of advancing to the quarterfinals of the men's Volleyball Nations League with a lopsided 3-0 win over Germany on Thursday.
Stephen Maar and Arthur Szwarc each had a game-high 15 points for sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ which won handily with set scores of 25-18, 25-18 and 25-21.
Moritz Karlitzek led Germany with 13 points.
sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ outscored Germany in attacking (46-31), blocking (8-3) and aces (4-3).
sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½, which has already qualified for the Paris Olympics, sits fifth in the standings halfway through the final week of preliminary-round play. The top three teams at the end of the week advance to the quarterfinals.
The Canadians (6-4) face fourth-place Brazil on Friday before wrapping up the preliminary round Saturday against No. 13 Netherlands.
"It was a great and important win — we played very, very well for two and a half sets; especially in attack," said sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo.
"There’s always something to learn and that’s how we handle moments of the game, such as the last part of the third set (when Germany attempted a comeback), which was a good lesson for us. How to stay focused and push on every rally. But it was great game in attack … now we recover and get ready for the next game."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2024.
The Canadian Press