Universiade (m volleyball): Canada shows progress, but loses a second game
The Canadian men’s volleyball junior national team suffered its second loss in as many days at the Summer Universiade as they fell 3-0 (21-25, 15-25, 15-25) to Thailand on Friday.
GWANGJU, South Korea (Team Canada) – The Canadian men’s volleyball junior national team suffered its second loss in as many days at the Summer Universiade as they fell 3-0 (21-25, 15-25, 15-25) to Thailand on Friday.
Gwangju 2015 website: www.gwangju2015.com
Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer/2015/index
Team Canada Twitter: @CDNUniversiade | #goCanadaU
Canada had a good start to open up the match, taking an early 12-10 lead. However with the game tied at 13, Thailand went on an 8-1 run to take a 21-14 lead. The red and white squad came back with a late rally, but Thailand closed out the set at 25-21.
Hitter Brandon Koppers (McMaster University) made finished the set with five kills while Edmonton native Arran Chambers (University of Alberta) was solid at the net with three blocks.
“First contact is very important and we struggled with our reception and our serve today. When it happens, everything becomes difficult and the confidence is affected”, said head coach John Barrett (University of Toronto).
Thailand deepened their lead in the second set. With the score close at 10-9 they once again went on a run winning seven of the eight following points. Winning that set 25-15, they led the game two sets to none and the following one was also at their advantage and they ended to game with a 25-15 win.
Koppers, from Georgetown, Ont., was the leading scorer on the Canadian side, finishing with seven kills and two blocks.
Canada will now break until July 6th when they face off against the defending gold medallists from Russia.
About the Summer Universiade
The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, over 11,500 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
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