Canada's Tyler Sanders (left), Graham Vigrass, Gordon Perrin and Rudy Verhoeff in happy mood.
Tampere, Finland, July 2, 2016 - Canada defeated Portugal in straight
sets 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-21) as Gordon Perrin top-scored for the winning team with 14 points.
Portugal's Joao Oliveira was joint top scorer of the game also on 14 points.
Both teams had already secured their spots in the FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 Group 2 finals in Matosinhos where Portugal is the host of the tournament. Undefeated Canada leads Group 2 with eight wins.
Portugal took a 13-12 lead in the first set, but Canada scored the next four points and cruised to an easy win 25-18. Gordon Perrin spiked six points for Canada and Hugo Gaspar five for Portugal.Canada started very convincingly in set two, jumping out to a 16-10 lead. Portugal did not back down and tied the score at 18-18 and it was still tied at 21-21, but Canada played the last balls calmly and wrapped up the set 25-22. Rudy Verhoeff scored five points for Canada and Marco Ferreira was the best scorer of Portugal with seven.
Canada again took the lead in set three, 16-12 ahead at the second technical time out. The whole set was a strong performance from Canada, who sealed the set and the match with 25-21.