CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Hopes of returning home from the NORCECA men's Continental Volleyball Championship with a gold medal were spiked Sunday by a powerful squad from the United States.
Thanks to the speed of the offence, the Americans won the best-of-five, gold-medal match 3-0 at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
"We were in the final, which is good," said Canadian head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo. "The U.S. was very strong, but we could do a lot better."
The U.S. rolled to victory with 25-20, 25-14, 25-22 wins.
"We lost the match in service and passing … we couldn't stop the speed of their offence and we were struggling with our attacking," added Sammelvuo, whose team bumped off Cuba on Saturday to reach the final.
"We will analyze this tournament, go back to work and get ready for the Olympic qualification. We'll get back to work."
Veteran U.S. player Matt Anderson scored a match-high 16 points. Stephen Maar of Aurora, Ont., led the Canadian side with 12 points.
The U.S. led in attack points (44-31), blocks (5-3) and took 23 points from Canada's errors. Canada recorded 18 points from U.S. miscues.
Cuba defeated the Dominican Republic 3-0 earlier in the day to net the bronze medal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2023.
The Canadian Press
