Canadian men’s volleyball team falls to Japan in World Cup finale

HIROSHIMA, Japan – The Canadian men’s volleyball team settled for a ninth-place finish at the World Cup after losing 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 15-9) to host Japan on Tuesday.

Canada was 4-7 at the 12-team, round-robin event, which is held every four years. Canada finished seventh at the last World Cup in 2015.

Stephen Maar of Aurora, Ont., led Canada with 26 points against Japan, while captain Nicholas Hoag of Sherbrooke, Que., had 18.

Kunihiro Shimizu led Japan with 25 points. Japan (8-3) finished fourth.

“An incredible match once again for us,” Canada coach Dan Lewis said. “My guys played so well. We fought really, really hard. It was a difficult atmosphere at the beginning because the guys are so fatigued and they’re trying so hard to get the energy going.”

Brazil won the tournament with a perfect 11-0 record.

Canada will now gear up for its Olympic qualification tournament, Jan. 10-12 in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2019.