Canada, Loeppky, bounced from Volleyball Nations League
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Team Canada’s run at the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) came to a tough end June 27, as the Canucks dropped a straight-sets decision to Japan.
Canada battled hard in the first and third set, tying the game at 24 both times, before Japan pulled away.
The result ended a strong run for Canada at the tournament, which replaced the World League in 2018. The tournament features the 18 best national teams in the world.
This is the first time Canada has advanced to the knockout round of the Nations League, thanks to a massive performance from Steinbach’s Eric Loeppky. The newly signed Lube player was brilliant against sixth-ranked Brazil to clinch Canada’s spot in the quarterfinals.
Despite the strong showing in the round robin play, Canada head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo was disappointed the team didn’t have an historic run in them.
“It must serve us for the process toward the Olympics to understand what has to be done differently and to be able to perform better under pressure,” Sammelvuo said in a report on Volleyball Canada’s website.
“We proved to ourselves that we are a good team throughout VNL, and we can compete with everyone. But to compete is not our goal, the goal is to win games in the Olympics in a very tough pool, and that will allow us to move to the next stage.”
Loeppky posted a match-high 21-points in a 3-0 victory over Brazil. He was also nearly the difference in the first set against Japan, posting a huge block to tie the set 18-18 and a monster ace to give Canada a 21-20 lead. Those great plays wouldn’t be enough, as Canada was eliminated from the competition.
The strong tournament result is a good showing for the team looking to make noise at the Paris Olympics later this summer.
Canada’s seeding at the tournament has also been announced. The team will be in a pool alongside the defending champions and host France, Slovenia and Serbia. Volleyball is set to begin July 27, with the gold-medal match Aug. 10.
Loeppky has already had a busy year, moving from Vero Volley Monza to perennial champions Lube in the Italian Superleague, widely considered the best club league in the world.