Saskatoon, Canada, June 24, 2016 - Canada defeated China in straight sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-17) as John Gordon Perrin and Gavin Schmitt were joint top-scorers for the winning team with 16 points.
Best scorers in China’s losing effort were Dai Qingyao with 11 points and Chen Longhai with 7.
Canada extended their winning streak to five matches and is still undefeated at the 2016 World League. The only other team in Group 2 without defeat is Turkey.
A hometown crowd of 2,436 arrived on an overcast Saturday afternoon in Saskatchewan, Canada for today’s FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 match between Canada and China. The crowd was not disappointed as the starting line-ups were announced and let out a roar as Saskatoon’s own Gavin Schmitt was among Canada’s starters.
The first set saw Canada showing their poise in their second match up against China in World League pool play. Smart attacking and powerful serves from Canadians Gavin Schmitt and Gordon Perrin gave Canada leads of 8-5 and 16-14 at the technical time outs. Unforced errors by the Chinese and a big block took Canada to victory in the set, winning 25-21.
Set number two showed the Canadian team continuing their winning ways as they continued to ride the strong play of their wing spikers. Canada continued to establish their middle early giving their wing spikers good looks and one on one opportunities for points. Leading the way, 8-4 and 16-12 at the technical time outs, the home team won set two with a little more urgency than that of the first, prevailing 25-19.
Give the people what they want. Canada continued to ride the energy of the crowd and jumped out to an 8-5 lead at the first technical time out. The Chinese squad could not find their composure or get on track as the Canadian team expanded their lead to 16-10 at the second technical time out and never looked back. Gavin Schmitt scored the last two points of the set and the match and Canada won their 5th World League match, 25-17, to move to 5-0 in pool play.