Canada takes straight-sets win over Bulgaria in men's Volleyball Nations League
Improves Canadian record to 2-1, next match comes vs. Slovenia on Saturday
The Canadian men's volleyball team scored their second victory at the Volleyball Nations League stop in Antalya, Turkey, taking a straight-sets win (25-22, 30-28, 26-24) over Bulgaria on Friday.
In a post-game interview, Canada's Fynn McCarthy said despite winning in straight sets, the Bulgarians weren't an easy opponent – which was a benefit for the Canadians.
"It wasn't an easy match for us," MCCasrthy said. "[Bulgaria] gave us push back but we worked through some difficult moments which I think was great for the team and for me as an individual.
"It's just great to get this win."
Canada is now 2-1 in VNL play after Tuesday's win over hosts Turkey, and Thursday's loss to top-ranked Poland.
"It was a very tight game, and I'm proud of our team that in important moments we could close the sets in our favour," said head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo.
"To win 3-0 means a lot in rankings and for many other reasons. Of course, there are things that we need to do better and improve — for example, we missed too many serves today. But it's been three early matches in three days, and we are handling that well. And now we will recover and get all our strength for tomorrow's match against Slovenia."
Canada next plays Slovenia on Saturday at 7 a.m. ET, which will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and on CBC Gem.
The 12th-ranked Canadians have already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after a second-place performance in the Olympic Qualifier pool last year.
WATCH | Canada vs. Bulgaria, full-match replay:
Canadian roster
- Luke Herr – Winnipeg
- Brett Walsh – Calgary
- Ryley Barnes – Edmonton
- Nicholas Hoag – Sherbrooke, Que.
- Eric Loeppky – Steinbach, Man.
- Stephen Maar – Aurora, Ont.
- Pearson Eshenko – Banff, Alta.
- Fynn McCarthy – Lake Country, B.C.
- Danny Demyanenko – Toronto
- Lucas Van Berkel – Edmonton
- Xander Ketrzynski – Toronto
- Arthur Szwarc – Toronto
- Landon Currie – Coldstream, B.C.
- Justin Lui – Pickering, Ont.
- Reserve: Jordan Schnitzer – Surrey, B.C.
