Canada closes out 1st weekend of World League volleyball with loss to Serbia

The Canadian men's volleyball team closed out their first weekend of FIVB World League action this season with a 3-1 loss to Serbia on Sunday.

Canada fell behind 2-0, but took the third set before Serbia eventually secured the win in the fourth. 

In a tight match, Canada had its moments but couldn't contain Serbian star spikers Aleksandar Atanasijevic and Marko Ivovic.

Canada held its own early in the fourth, with two consecutive aces by Graham Vigrass giving Canada an 8-5 lead at the technical time out.

But the host nation found its rhythm and quickly knotted the set at 11. Powerful spikes by Atanasijevic and Ivovic, coupled with unforced errors by Canada, allowed Serbia to win the set, 25-20. 

Stephen Maar led the way with 16 points for Canada while captain Gord Perrin and newcomer Sharone Vernon-Evans had 15 points each.

Positive start

Canada's record stands at 2-1 after the first phase of the preliminary round. 

Canada upset the United States in their second match of the weekend on Saturday, and kicked off the season on Friday with a win over Belgium. Both wins were in five sets.

The preliminary round continues for Canada with a series of matches in Bulgaria from June 9-11. The final weekend of group play will be held in Belgium the following week.

New head coach

This is the Canadians' first international action under Stephane Antiga, who was hired as head coach in December, and first since they finished fifth at last summer's Rio Olympics — their first appearance in 24 years.

"I am satisfied with our overall performance in this tournament. Serbia played much better than yesterday [against Belgium], so we had a really difficult job," said Antiga. 

"In the end, we have grown as a team and I expect us to be much better in the future matches."

The FIVB World League is the premier annual men's volleyball tournament with a total of 36 participating teams in 2017.

The 36 teams have been split into three groups of 12 teams and will play the preliminary round in a pool format over three weeks, before the best teams gather for the finals in each group.

Due to their strong play last season, Canada has been promoted to the top tier in this year's event, known as Group 1.