John Gordon Perrin of Canada top scored for Canada with 16 points, including two blocks that helped their team in the end game
Tokyo, Japan, June 1, 2016 – Canada got their second consecutive victory at the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament, following their 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 27-25) win over Venezuela at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Wednesday.
John Gordon Perrin top scored for Canada with 16 points, including 14 attacks and two blocks. Gavin Schmitt and Justin Duff contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively, including two blocks each that fortified the Canadian defence. Kervin Martin Pinerua charted 12 points for Venezuela.
Canada opened the first set with a 4-2 edge, but the Venezuelans did an excellent job to keep up with their rivals and levelled the score at 6-all. Both sides had a point-by-point exchange and neither opened up a significant lead, as the score was again deadlocked at 12-all. Canada started to break away after the second technical timeout as they started to convert on their attempts from the attack line. Daniel Cornelius Jansen Vandoorn and Schmitt punched in five markers for Canada to take the first set at 25-20. Canada trailed Venezuela in the second set but Perrin’s involvement in the Canadian offence and defence rewarded them to overtake with a slim lead. Venezuela committed defensive lapses that allowed Canada to stretch their lead and conclude the set at 25-20.
Venezuela made a great start in the third set and led 16-13 at the second technical timeout. They struggled subsequently on defence as they could not properly set-up Pinerua on the attack that allowed Canada to trail them by just one point. They managed to fix their defence in the next plays and led 18-15. Canada then tightened their net defence that tied the game at 22-all. Both sides felt the pressure afterwards but Canada prevailed on great net coverage. Venezuela’s two errors gave away set and match to Canada 27-25.