Glenn Hoag
Team veteran and home-crowd favourite Dan Lewis of Oakville, Ontario, is encouraging fans to “put down their IPads” and come out to the Hershey Centre. “Our Canadian team plays all over the world, and we are very excited to be playing here at the Hershey Centre. This is our home court right now, and as we look into the stands and see our friends and family who have been supporting us over the years, it gives us extra inspiration…. Live volleyball at this level is an incredible experience.“
The first weekend of World League competition for the Canadians took place May 31 to June 1 at the Colisée Pepsi, Québec City, against the Netherlands with Canada winning the first match (25-22, 22-25, 27-25, 27-25) and the Netherlands winning the second match (25-22, 25-17, 20-25, 25-23). The second weekend was in Mississauga at the Hershey Centre June 7 and 8 against Portugal with Canada once again splitting the matches, winning (25-19 25-19 25-18) on June 7 and losing (19-25, 25-20, 18-25, 23-25) on June 8.
Canada’s coach Glenn Hoag has made it clear that he wants two wins this weekend. “It’s important for us to get some victories as we aim to finish first in our pool. Korea, as is the case for all Asian teams, is technically very gifted, and will be using multiple combinations and zone changes during the match tomorrow. They play a very fast, high-level game and the volleyball will be spectacular, but I also know their speed and complexity will test our patience tomorrow night.“
Coach Ki-Won Park and his Korean team hope to further their 14th place finish at the 2012 World League, which allowed them to qualify for the 2013 season.
“Canada is a very tall, powerful team, while our strengths are mostly in defense and our combination plays,” coach Ki-Won Park said after Thursday’s practice. “That is essentially the difference between our two teams. In order to do well in the World League, we are in a must-win situation; I want to leave Canada having won at least one of the two matches over the weekend.“
The 2013 FIVB World League features 18 teams split into three pools of six. Canada, ranked 18th in the world, is in Pool C with Korea (WR22), Finland (WR31), the Netherlands (WR41), Japan (WR19), Portugal (WR36).
To read more news from this competition click on World League 2013 M.
