Canadian men lose in straight sets to Slovenia at Volleyball Nations League

The Canadian men's volleyball team lost 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-22) to Slovenia in Volleyball Nations League action in Remini, Italy on Wednesday.

Slovenia improved to 5-2 with its straight-sets victory. While Canada dropped to 2-5 to remain, at least for now, in 11th place.

Tonček Štern led the way for Slovenia with 17 points, Klemen Čebulj had 12, and captain Tine Urnaut scored 10.

On the Canadian side, Nicholas Hoag, from Sherbrooke, Que., led the way with 16 points while captain Gordon Perrin, from Creston, B.C., had 10.

WATCH | Slovenia shuts out Canada:

Canada plays again on Thursday at 5:45 a.m. ET against Russia (4-3) which can be seen on CBCSports.ca.

The annual international men's and women's competition featuring the world's top 16 teams in each gender was cancelled in 2020 because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The Canadian men's and women's squads will each play a 15-match preliminary round until June 23.

The top four countries advance to the semifinals and finals.

The Canadian men, ranked No. 10 in the world, have qualified for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics starting July 23. Nations League is important preparation for them after a year of no matches as a team.

Canada's women's team (2-7) is 14th in its competition and next plays Saturday against Serbia.