The US men's national team recorded their third consecutive victory in the Men's Volleyball Nations League, after defeating host Canada 3:2 (20:25, 33:35, 26:24, 25:21, 15:11) in an extremely contested match from the first week of the tournament in Ottawa. The encounter lasted more than two hours and offered a significant comeback, after the Americans were trailing 0:2 in sets. Bulgarian Ivaylo Ivanov was the second referee of the match.
For the first time, a nominal libero appeared on serve – Erik Shoji, who was not in a libero's uniform, made the first serve at 20:19 in the third set for the USA, and his serve brought a break.
The Canadians started better and took the first two sets with 25:20 and the dramatic 35:33. However, the Americans showed character and brought back the intrigue after 26:24 in the third set. A convincing performance followed in the fourth part for 25:21, and in the tie-break, the visitors asserted their superiority and closed the match at 15:11.
The top scorer in the match was Canadian Wassenaar-Ketrzynski with 21 points. Hartke finished with the biggest contribution to the USA's success with 18 points, while McHenry added 15. For the hosts, Maar registered 16 points.
With this win, the USA solidified its second place in the VNL temporary standings with 3 wins and 8 points, while Canada is ninth with 1 win and 5 points. In the world rankings, the Americans hold the fourth position, and the Canadians are eighth.

photo:volleyballworld.com/