Canada will play top-ranked Poland in Round of 16 after loss to Turkey at volleyball worlds
Canada was dealt its first defeat at the world men's volleyball championship on Wednesday with a 3-0 loss to Turkey.
Set scores were 21-25, 16-25 and 25-27 as Turkey (3-0) finished ahead of Canada (2-1) in the Pool G standings.
"I feel we missed a good opportunity today," said Canada head coach Dan Lewis. "Turkey attacked in difficult situations very well and they played much better defence.
Turkey outperformed Canada in attack by 43-28 points and made fewer unforced errors — 19 to Canada's 24. Blocking points were even at seven, though Canada had eight aces compared with its opponent's three.
WATCH | Canada moves on despite Turkey loss:
Canadian opposite Sharone Vernon-Evans (three aces, two kill blocks), middle blocker Fynn McCarthy (three aces, one kill block), and outside hitter and captain Nicholas Hoag (two aces, one kill block) jointly topped Canada's scoring with eight points apiece.
"I feel this is what we've been working on a lot but failed to execute today; we didn't dig enough balls and our attack efficiency dropped collectively," Lewis said.
"We started a couple of the sets poorly, and then we had our window there in the third set to finish and we missed that."
Both teams entered the match assured of a berth in the Round of 16. Canada plays top-ranked Poland (3-0) next on Saturday, with the loser facing elimination.
cbc.ca
