Canada advances to quarterfinals at Pan Am Cup

 SANTO DOMINGO (July 11, 2012) – Canada advanced to the quarterfinals on Wednesday defeating Trinidad and Tobago 25-15, 25-22, 25-23 at the Pan Am Cup men’s volleyball tournament.

The Canadians, represented by its national B team,  and Trinidadians were tied for third spot in Group A after both losing their opening two matches.  The top-three in each of the two groups advance to the playoff round.

"We have achieved all the goals we set for ourselves and have gained experience as a young team,’’ said Max Burt of Gander, N.L. ‘’We were executing the plays and although the first set was easy, the others were well fought."

Christopher Hoag of Sherbrooke, Que., and Lucas Van Berkel of Edmonton led the Canadians with 10 points each.

‘’We were forced to work hard after the first set and we showed improvement game after game,’’ said Canada’s head coach Larry McKay.  ‘’We made good shots and our service went through good rallies that got the victory. It was difficult at the end of the third set but we took full advantage of some mistakes."

Canada faces Brazil in its quarterfinal on Thursday.

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Canadian team for the Pan American Cup men’s volleyball tournament July 9-14 in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic (name, school or club, hometown)

 

Alberta

Lucas Van Berkel, Trinity Western University, Edmonton

Ciaran McGovern, National Training Centre, Grande Prairie

Jay Blankeneau, University of Calgary, Calgary

Blair Bann, National Training Centre, Edmonton

 

British Columbia

Steven Marshall, Trinity Western University, Abbotsford

 

Manitoba

Dane Pischke, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg

 

New Brunswick

Jacob Kilpatrick, National Training Centre, St. John

 

Newfoundland and Labrador

Max Burt, National Training Centre, Gander

 

Ontario

Sander Ratsep, National Training Centre, London

Reid Halpeny, National Training Centre, Grand Bend

 

Quebec

Chris Hoag, University of Calgary, Sherbrooke

 

Saskatchewan

Braden McLean, University of Saskatchewan, Birch Hills

 

Staff:

 

Head coach: Lawrence McKay

 

Assistant coach: Stephen Michael Leknois assistant-coach

 

Assistant coach: Tilen Kozamernik

 

Athletic therapist: Luc Campbell

 

Team manager: Sophie Gadoury

 

 

For more information:

 

Sophie Gadoury

Men's Developmental National Teams Coordinator

Coordonnatrice des Programmes Masculins Nationaux de Développement

sgadoury@volleyball.ca