Canada beats Mexico to stay alive in men's volleyball
Sets up Monday showdown with Italy to decide fate
By Daniel Goffenberg, CBC Sports
Canada's men's volleyball team did what it needed to do on Saturday, beating Mexico in straight sets (25-20, 25-13, 25-22) to earn a crucial three points and keep its quarter-final hopes alive.
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The win moves Canada into a four-way tie with Brazil, France, and the United States with six points in Pool A. The U.S. beat France in four sets earlier in the day.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CAN?src=hash">#CAN</a> makes it look easy against <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MEX?src=hash">#MEX</a> winning the second set 25-13 thanks to this block. <a href="https://t.co/i8kIYZwhfp">https://t.co/i8kIYZwhfp</a>
—@CBCOlympicsThe final matches of the preliminary round are scheduled for Monday.
The U.S. will play the winless Mexican team first at 10:35 a.m. ET, and assuming the Americans are able to take three points from that match (teams earn three points for winning in four or less sets, two for winning in five), the final quarter-final spots in Pool A will come down to the results from Canada-Italy and Brazil-France.
Canada takes on Italy at 7:30 p.m. ET, with host nation Brazil playing France afterward.
After wins and points, the next tiebreaker is each team's set ratio, which is the amount of sets won divided by the amount lost.
By beating Mexico, and needing just three sets to do it, Canada now has an identical set ratio to France (7/6). Brazil is slightly lower at (8/8). The next tiebreaker is set points, which is the total amount of points won divided by the total amount of points lost. Canada is currently behind France and Brazil in this category.
The Canadian side got through the first two sets Saturday without much concern, but Mexico hung in close throughout the third before Canada was able to put the match away late.
With Canada leading 22-21, a block by Graham Vigrass awarded Canada some breathing room. Another block, this one by Gavin Schmitt, gave Canada three match points. The Canadians then sealed the deal when Mexican Néstor Orellana's serve went out wide.
As it stands now, Canada controls their own fate and can punch their ticket into the quarter-finals with a win over Italy, which has already clinched the top seed by going undefeated through four matches.
"It will be a real brawl, real hard," Canada's Nicholas Hoag said of the Monday's match with the Italians. "They are a good team playing well. If we get that win we are most likely going to make it through the group and that would be huge for us. We'll get some rest and get ready."
As it stands now, Canada controls its own fate and can advance into the quarter-finals with a win over Italy, which has already clinched the top seed by going undefeated through four matches.
With files from The Associated Press