Canadian men's volleyball team defeats Brazil for 1st time since 2012
Nicholas Hoag leads Canucks to 3-0 upset in FIVB Nations League match
Nicholas Hoag had 15 points to lead the Canadian men's volleyball team to a 3-0 upset win over top-ranked Brazil in FIVB Nations League play Friday.
Gavin Schmitt, a six-foot-10 outside hitter, had a team-high 16 spikes to guide Canada to a 25-22, 34-32, 25-23 win over the 2016 Olympic champions.
"I'm elated with this win today," said Canada coach Stephane Antiga. "To beat Brazil for the first time since 2012, our team really proved that we can work together under pressure. We knew all the matches would be very tough moving forward, so to open the weekend with this win today is very positive."
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VNL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VNL</a>. Mega Rally alert 📢📢 ended by Team Canada winning the point against Brazil.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BePartOfTheGame?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BePartOfTheGame</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Volleyball?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Volleyball</a> <a href="https://t.co/qjoResbmPK">pic.twitter.com/qjoResbmPK</a>
—@FIVBVolleyballIt was just the fifth time that sixth-ranked Canada has beaten Brazil at the world level in 27 attempts.
Stephen Maar had nine points and made several clutch plays in the final set while T.J. Sanders finished the match with an ace.
Brazil's Wallace de Souza led all players with 19 points.
The Canadian victory came in the opener of the fourth phase of league play. Canada will next play host Bulgaria on Saturday