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HIROSHIMA, Japan, September 10, 2015 – USA defeated Canada in
straight sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-17) in the first round of the
FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup Japan 2015 in Hiroshima on
Thursday.
U.S. star Matt Anderson contributed 13 points, and teammate
Taylor Sander 12 points as well as earning the Most Impressive
Player award. Canada was led by Steven Marshall with 12; and
Nicholas Hoag at eight.
“The U.S. played well and this tournament is not easy,” said
Canada’s coach, Glenn Hoag. "The US serving was very good today
and they ran a good offense, and we’ve been struggling with our
blocking this summer. We’re trying to figure out a way to get
better match by match.”
It started off as an even affair, with both teams looking
determined off the block. But the U.S., ranked fifth in the
world, was able shut down Canada (14th) for the win – its third
in three matches. The U.S. was coming off last night’s 3-1
victory over Japan.
“I was very happy with the win – we knew it would be a
challenging match, as it always is when we play Canada. They
have a really good team, so it’s really hard to prepare them,”
said U.S. coach John Speraw. “Marshall had a really nice match
versus us in May (which Canada won to qualify for this World
Cup), and they have four really good outside hitters, and I
think both their setters are great, so it was a challenge for us
to prepare.”
Friday is an off day for the tournament, but then Canada faces
Japan and its home crowd advantage on Saturday while USA meets
Italy.
"Today the first two sets were close, but we had small errors
here and there and to me that’s what made the difference," said
Nick Hoag. "We are playing better and better and are looking
forward to playing Japan on Saturday."
The FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup Japan 2015 runs from
September 8 to 23. The winner and runner-up in the 12-team
competition will qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. |
