Canada beats Bulgaria 3-0 in men’s Volleyball Nations League action

ANTALYA, Türkiye – Canada’s men’s volleyball continued its preparations for the Paris Olympics with a 3-0 win over Bulgaria on Friday in Volleyball Nations League action.

Eric Loeppky of Steinbach, Man., had a team-high 14 points as Canada posted set scores of 25-22, 30-28 and 26-24.

Stephen Maar of Aurora, Ont., added 13 points.

“It was a very tight game, and I’m proud of our team that in important moments we could close the sets in our favour,” Canada head coach, Tuomas Sammelvuo said.

“To win 3-0 means a lot in rankings and for many other reasons. Of course, there are things that we need to do better and improve – for example, we missed too many serves today. But it’s been three early matches in (four) days, and we are handling that well.”

Canada improved to 2-1 in VNL play after opening with a 3-1 win over host Turkey on Tuesday before a hard-fought 3-1 loss to top-ranked Poland on Thursday.

The 12th-ranked Canadians next face Slovenia on Saturday before returning home for the next leg of VNL play, starting June 4 against Cuba in Ottawa.

Canada is already qualified for the Paris Games after a second-place finish in the Olympic Qualifier pool last year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2024.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly stated that Canada’s next VNL game was June 4 against Cuba. In fact, it is Saturday against Slovenia.