Saskatoon, Canada, June 24, 2016 – Much to the delight of the home fans Canada beat Korea in three quick sets (25-20, 25-21, 25-20) in Saskatoon on Friday.
An enthusiastic crowd of 1,500 welcomed Canada home to the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon to open up its FIVB World League Volleyball 2016 home stand.
Canada opened set one showing the defense and high flying offence that earned them their Rio 2016 Olympic berth. Canada led at the technical time-outs, 8-6 and 16-13 as they won the first set in convincing fashion, 25-20.
The second set started with Korea matching Canada, point for point. Canada led by the slim margin of 8-7 at the first technical time-out. Strong blocking and attacking performances by Nicholas Hoag, Gordon Perrin and Steven Marshall allowed Canada to open up their lead as the set progressed. In the end, a service long gave Canada the second set, 25-21.
The middle was the story for much of set three. Justin Duff and Adam Simac found court up the middle which allowed Canada to open up the outside for John Gordon Perrin and Steven Marshall. After trading points and runs with Korea up until 13-13, Canada began to open up a lead and never looked back. Nicholas Hoag sealed the set and the match with a convincing kill from the back row, as Canada cruised to a 25-20 set victory and 3-0 match win.
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