Gdansk, Poland, September 7, 2014 – Canada gained three more points with their straight-set (26-24, 27-25, 25-17) victory over China on the final day of the first round in Pool C of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship at the Ergo Arena on Sunday.
Key Points
• Canada got a tough challenge from China in the first two sets, ending with slim 26-24 and 27-25 margins.
• Canada’s John Perrin Gordon top scored for Canada, while Cui Jianjun scored 17 points for China.
• Canada only had 15 unforced errors, while China had 20.
• Three Canadian players had better take on offence as three players scored in double figures; Canada had better digging than China 25-14.
Canada jumped into a 4-0 lead as Tyler Sanders blasted fierce serves. China countered through Cui Jianjun’s powerful spikes that shifted the lead to their side 8-6. Chinese middle Geng Xin worked the net well and intimidated the Canadian attackers, except Dallas Soonias, who relentlessly punched through the Chinese block that tied the score at 11-all.
China tried to stay on track but Soonias’ explosiveness on offence caused trouble for China. The Asian squad managed to maintain a two-point lead at 21-19 but were later on deadlocked at 24-all by the Canadian tandem of Soonias and Justin Duff. Soonias wrapped up the set in favour of Canada 26-24.
After scoring 11 points in the first set, Yuan Zhi opened the second set with powerful serves in the second set. China used this momentum to pull off a 9-6 advantage but Canada manage to cut down the score to within one point just before the second technical timeout 15-14. Canada managed to outrun the Chinese and pushed the lead further up. Cui Jianjun saved China to deadlock with Canada, but in the end, Canada had better control of their offence to close the second set 27-25.
China lacked motivation in the third set after suffering tight losses in the first two sets. Canada maintained their level on both offence and defence. Soonias and Duff teamed-up again to give Canada a 13-7 lead. Perrin’s service ace kept the six-point gap in the second technical timeout and led another surge to bring his team much closer to match victory 21-13. Adam Simac’s powerful kill secured the third set and match for Canada 25-17.