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Canada tops Chile in a five-set thriller to lead Pool A

 

   

GATINEAU, Canada, June 25, 2015 – Canada topped Chile in a five-set thriller (25-21,25-22,21-25, 20-25, 15-11) on Thursday to finish on top of Pool A and guarantee a spot in the semifinals at the U21 Men’s Pan American Cup, held at the Centre Sportif de Gatineau.

 

With Canada’s Primer Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen watching from the stands, the host team got off to a good start versus the combative South American team.  Led by the quartet of Brandon Koppers, Blake Scheerhoorn, captain Ryan Nickifor and Arthur Szwarc, they managed to keep a narrow lead over Chile to take the first two sets 25-21 and 25-22.

 

The third and fourth sets remained even, but Chile got the upper hand towards the end and won 25-21 and 25-20 to even the score and set the stage for the tie-breaker.

 

In the decisive set, two aces by Scheerhoorn and Nickifor –back on court after resting in the fourth set- put Canada in the lead 6-4. An effective blocking allowed the Canadians to stop the Chilean attack and they went on to win 15-11 and secure their second victory of the tournament.

 

Scheerhoorn led the winners’ attack with 18 points. He was also supported by Nickifor and Koppers with 15 each and Szwarc (11). Captain Dusan Bonacic (24) and Simón Guerra (11) were the top scorers for Chile.

 

Ryan Nickifor, captain of Canada: “I think we just need to sustain our energy level throughout the whole game a little bit better. We came out in the third a little bit tentative and we need to keep pushing throughout every set. It’s good that we have guys that can come off the bench and fill spots if guys aren’t playing their role. Moving forward we just need to sustain our energy for longer and we’ll come out on top.”

 

John Barret, head coach of Canada: “We started off really well and were playing with a lot of confidence. Chile pushed back and we knew they were a good team; they’re well coached and very technical. When they pushed back we lost our confidence and started playing in a tentative manner. When you play in a tentative manner you will lose. It’s that simple. In any sport at any time victory goes to the aggressor. We got our mood back and played aggressively and came out with the fifth set. We are very happy to win against a good team from Chile.”

 

Dusan Bonacic, captain of Chile: "We knew we need to show our best game and we did it. It is a bitter feeling because we believe we could have won this game, but in the fifth set we made serious mistakes and they blocked our attack 4-5 times. Our main opposite player did not play in the beginning so we used our reserve hitter and our rhythm changed. Overall, it was a great match and the atmosphere was awesome. We put on a good show. We will play 100% against Barbados against tomorrow. Our goal is to reach the final.