Canada upsets Japan, advances to Round of 16 at men's volleyball worlds
Sharone Vernon-Evans had a game-high 14 points as Canada stunned heavy favourite Japan to advance to the Round of 16 at the FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship.
Canada won 3-0 with set scores of 25-20, 25-23, 25-22. The team improved to 2-0 at the tournament and moved up to eighth in the world rankings.
Japan had more points from the service line (7-3), but Canada led in attack points (40-33) and dominated in blocking points (10-2).
"This game was an important step for our guys — they executed really well. Blocking was exceptional," said Canada head coach Dan Lewis.
Veteran captain Nick Hoag added 13 points for Canada. Ran Takahashi was Japan's top scorer with 11.
Japan, the seventh seed in the world, fell to 0-2 and will not advance from Pool G.
"Japan has the potential to serve really well, and we didn't give them any major runs of points when they put the pressure on," Lewis said.
"And at times our serving game faltered a bit, but our side-out was so strong that it gave us the availability to not be penalized too much for that."
The Canadians will face No. 14 Turkey (2-0) on Wednesday, with top spot in the group on the line.
cbc.ca
