Canadian men fall to Argentina for 1st loss of Volleyball Nations League season

Canada's men's volleyball team suffered its first loss of the 2023 Volleyball Nations League campaign on Friday night at the hands of Argentina, falling 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 21-25, 16-25) at TD Place in Ottawa.

The Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists overcame a raucous crowd and ran away in the fourth set to claim their second win of the VNL season.

"We had a chance to start (VNL) in Ottawa last year as well and it's always fun to see fans coming out," said Canadian captain Nicholas Hoag to Volleyball Canada. "The fact that we have it every year, the fans know, appreciate it and want to come back every year...

"Overall, we were not bad. We had some ups and lots of down unfortunately. We are trying to get that consistency that we need. We collapsed a little bit in the third set and that carried on in the fourth set, especially with a team like Argentina."

Guided by head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo, Canada is searching for its first VNL medal. Sammelvuo led the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to Olympic silver in Tokyo before being named Canada's coach last year.

"We need consistency at this level and Argentina is a great example of what this means," said Sammelvuo to Volleyball Canada. "They made very few mistakes, but we fought and defended a lot. Technically, we have to improve, especially in our attack. Today, we were receiving better than our opponent. We should still get our game a bit more targeted.... We made too many mistakes in our attack today.

"That's something we really have to improve. It's a matter of understanding who we are, how we have to play, what kind of team we are. … The spirit is there."

Canada (1-1) currently sits 12th in the preliminary phase standings, while Argentina (2-1) is second behind Poland (3-0). The Canadians opened their tournament with a 3-2 win over Cuba on Tuesday.

They will look to bounce back against the United States (2-0) on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, before taking on Germany on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. Watch live coverage of both matches on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.

WATCH | Argentina hands Canada 1st loss of VNL campaign:

"Tonight [Friday] was amazing and tomorrow [Saturday] is going to be as good if not better, said Hoag. "Tomorrow will be another tough game [against the U.S.], more physical on their side. It's always fun to play against them. We play them every summer and it's always a good battle."

The fifth edition of the men's VNL tournament features the top 16 nations, with eight advancing to the final round next month in Gdańsk, Poland (July 19-23). Italy, Brazil and the Netherlands are also competing during the opening week in Ottawa.

The preliminary phase is being held in six cities over three weeks, with games also taking place in Nagoya, Japan, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Orléans, France, Anaheim, Calif., and Pasay City, Philippines.

Tokyo gold medallists France are the defending VNL champions.

WATCH | FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League — Canada vs. Argentina:

Canada roster

• Jay Blankenau — Sherwood Park, Alta.

• Landon Currie —Vernon, B.C.

• Danny Demyanenko — Toronto

• Mathias Elser — Calgary

• Pearson Eshenko — Banff, Alta.

• Luke Herr — Winnipeg

• Nicholas Hoag — Sherbrooke, Que.

• Brodie Hofer — Langley, B.C.

• Justin Lui — Pickering, Ont.

• Stephen Maar — Aurora, Ont.

• Jordan Schnitzer —Surrey, B.C.

• Ryan Sclater —Port Coquitlam, B.C.

• Arthur Szwarc — Toronto

• Lucas Van Berkel — Edmonton