Russia boots Canada from Olympic men's volleyball tournament

By Jonathan Rumley, CBC Sports

Canada's men's volleyball team failed to match or contain the pounding doled out by the defending Olympic champions in their quarter-final on Wednesday and were eliminated from the Summer Games in straight sets (25-15, 25-20, 25-18).

• WATCH: Russia dominates Canada in first set
• WATCH: Canada on the verge of elimination
• SCHEDULE & RESULTS: Men's volleyball

After the match, Canadian captain Gavin Schmitt said he's leaning toward retirement.

"I'm not going to guarantee anything but I'm pretty certain that it probably will be [my last match]," said Schmitt, who has battled leg injuries. "My body is barely holding on as it is and I can't really keep going at this pace. So there's a good chance that this is probably the last game I ever play."

Canadian coach Glenn Hoag said the captain was not at 100 per cent in the loss to Russia.

"Gavin tried to give us everything he could, but he just had a lot of pain," said Hoag.

Russia took the first set 25-14 in convincing fashion at Maracanazinho Stadium in Rio de Janeiro thanks to the strong play of 28-year-old Maxim Mikhaylov. The 6-foot-8 opposite spiker was a dominant force on the court.

The Russians put on a clinic and only needed 20 minutes to claim victory in the first set. 

Daniel Jansen Van Doorn was a notable force for Team Canada in the first set. The 26-year-old from Langley, B.C., utilized powerful strikes and distracting fakes to create space for his teammates to score points.

However, Team Canada's efforts were not enough as the Russians climbed back to take the second set 25-20 in 25 minutes.

"We'll take some time and look back at where we got to, and I think we'll be pretty proud of what we've done. It's hard to look at that now though," said Canadian setter Jay Blankenau. "It's a huge step for volleyball in Canada to keep improving and use this as kind of a benchmark of what we can accomplish and try to be better and stronger next time."

But Team Canada had no answer for Mikhaylov, who dominated the game with heavy spikes to finish rallies. The 28-year-old Russian led the game with 12 individual points while John Gordon Perrin, 27, produced nine of his own for the Canadians. 

Russia took the final set 25-18 in 24 minutes to eliminate Canada and boot them from medal contention. 

• Canada upsets Italy in men's volleyball
• Canada beats Mexico in men's volleyball

But it was not all bad news for the Canadians, who played spoiler against high-ranked squads from the U.S. and Italy after becoming the first men's indoor squad to qualify for the Olympics in 24 years. 

"Just qualifying was really big for our country," said Canada's Blair Cameron Bann. "To do well and win some games here against some top-ranked teams, hopefully it keeps us going in the right direction — and we don't stop here; we keep going, keep improving," he added.

"We want to be at this level and we want to play at the highest level in the world, and we want to be in 2020," Perrin said.

The Russians will now move on to play the winner of Wednesday's match between Brazil and Argentina in one of the two semifinal games scheduled for Friday in Brazil.

With files from Radio-Canada, The Associated Press