Canada one win away from Olympic men’s volleyball berth with win over Mexico

MONCTON — Canada’s men’s volleyball team moved a win away from qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics with a 3-0 win over Mexico in a qualifying tournament Friday.

Set scores were 25-21, 25-18 and 25-13.

Canada will face Cuba on Saturday for an Olympic berth.

“We must just keep playing like ourselves,” Canadian opposite Xander Ketrzynski said. “It’s just another volleyball game.

“Sometimes at these big moments you can get a little bit ahead of yourself but at the end of the day, you got here for a reason, you’ve got to keep performing that way.”

Captain Eric Loeppky led Canada with a game-high 17 points, 15 on attack and two from blocks. Sharone Vernon-Evans had 13 points while Stephen Maar and Jackson Howe each added 10.

Mauro Fuentes led Mexico with eight points.

Canada, Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic advanced to the four-team qualification tournament based on their performance at the recent NORCECA volleyball championship, where Canada finished runner-up to the Olympic-host United States.


This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2026.