Canadian men advance to Final Four of FIVB World League Group 2

TAMPERE, Finland – Canada has advanced to the Final Four of its FIVB World League Group 2 campaign after an eight-match win streak.

The Canadians ended play on a sour note, dropping a five-set decision to host Finland, but had already earned their place for the Final Four in Portugal after topping its group with eight wins and 24 points.

“We’re disappointed by the end after winning eight matches in a row, obviously,” Canada’s captain Fred Winters said. “You have to give Finland credit. They played very well. They put a lot of pressure on us with their service. I don’t think we were prepared as well as we could have been for that.”

Finland’s Sauli Sinkkonen and Jan Helenius scored 15 points each. Nicholas Hoag led Canada with 18 points. Finland had still a chance to qualify for Final Four before the match, but needed a 3-0 win over Canada.

Both sides went back and forth in the first set, and were tied 21-21. Finland served and attacked well to take the next three points and the set. The final point for Finland came with Canada’s spike in the net.

Canada came back and got a great start to set two, leading 4-0 and 9-3, then cruising to an easy 25-18 victory. Hoag’s spike sealed the set.

Set three was tied 8-8, but Finland gained control after that. Antti Ropponen came from the bench to score seven points. Finland closed the set at 25-20.

Canada mounted a strong comeback in set four. The Canadians kept control of the game and Finland was struggling with its attack. Canada took it 25-21.

Finland had a strong start to the tiebreak, taking a 3-0 lead. Canada tied the score 4-4 and the set was still tied at 13-13, but Finland grabbed it 15-13.

“I think it was an exciting match for fans,” said Canadian coach Glen Hoag.

“Finland played well. We missed a lot of executions on simple things, we had mental lapses as well. That is going to happen so this is good for me to see so we can try to fix it on our road to Rio. Every game counts now for our preparation. Obviously, it wasn’t enough for a win but now we need to turn our focus to Portugal next weekend.”