ANTALYA — Canada's men's volleyball continued its preparations for the Paris Olympics with a 3-0 win over Bulgaria on Friday in Volleyball Nations League action.
Eric Loeppky of Steinbach, Man., had a team-high 14 points as Canada posted set scores of 25-22, 30-28 and 26-24.
Stephen Maar of Aurora, Ont., added 13 points.
"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," Canada head coach, Tuomas Sammelvuo said.
"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 (four) days, and we are handling that well."
Canada improved to 2-1 in VNL play after opening with a 3-1 win over host Turkey on Tuesday before a hard-fought 3-1 loss to top-ranked Poland on Thursday.
The 12th-ranked Canadians next face Slovenia on Saturday before returning home for the next leg of VNL play, starting June 4 against Cuba in Ottawa.
Canada is already qualified for the Paris Games after a second-place finish in the Olympic Qualifier pool last year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2024.
The Canadian Press
