Gavin Schmitt helps put Canadian men's volleyball back on the Olympic map
Team has shock win against U.S. after 24-year absence from the Games
With Saskatoon's "monster" of a player Gavin Schmitt scoring last-minute points and powering off hard serves, Canada's men's volleyball team defeated the U.S. in a shocking Olympic win on Sunday.
The first Canadian team to qualify for the Olympics since 1992, upset the fifth-ranked Americans 25-23, 25-17, 25-23.
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Back in Saskatchewan, where Schmitt earned his stripes playing for the U of S Huskies, another Sask. volleyball star was cheering them on.
Jay Magus was also a Husky and played on Canada's national team in 1996, when they tried to qualify for the summer games in Atlanta.
Only 12 teams are permitted to battle it out for a medal at the Games, and Magus said the strength of European teams made it very hard to qualify.
2016 is the first time in 24 years a Canadian team has qualified, so none of yesterday's winning players had competed at the Olympics before.
But Magus said the team was able to draw from the experience of its coach Glenn Hoag, who was part of the team that made it to the bronze medal match in Los Angeles in 1984.
"You can see he was really trying to settle his team down in the first set and he kept saying 'take a breath, relax guys,'" Magus said. "And you could see that halfway through the first set they started to relax and they made less errors and they played really good volleyball."
Magus said Schmitt's performance also stood out, describing the Sask. player as a "monster" on the court.
"He's six-foot-ten, 240 pounds, extremely aggressive, one of the best volleyball players in the world," he said.
But it wasn't all about Schmitt.
According to Magus, Nicholas Hoag and John Gordon "Gord" Perrin, were also major contributors in the win.
Although he's not certain the team will make it to the podium, Magus is hoping they can finish in the top eight or make it to the finals.
Regardless of whether the team takes home a medal, Magus said Schmitt and the team were making Saskatchewan proud as role models for young players.
"You can turn on the TV and you can see Canada playing the best and beating the best and it just gives you that mental image of 'OK, here's what I need to do if I want to be a superstar volleyball player.'"
The men's volleyball team plays Brazil on Tuesday. For a full calendar and results, visit CBC's Rio 2016 website.
With files from CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning