GWANGJU, South Korea (Team Canada) – The Canadian men’s volleyball team put their best foot forward Monday giving the three-time defending Universiade champions from Russia their toughest competition of the tournament to date. Although Canada had its best game of the competition, the Russians prevailed by 3-0 (13-25, 24-26, 22-25).

Gwangju 2015 website: www.gwangju2015.com

Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer/2015/index

Team Canada Twitter: @CDNUniversiade | #goCanadaU

After dropping the first set 13-25, Canada re-grouped and took the top seeded Russians into extra points. The Canadians took an early 9-2 lead early in the second before the Russians tied the game midway through the set. From there it was anybody’s game as the teams remained neck and neck right until the end with Russia coming out on top 26-24.

“We had a chance to win the second set today but we did not manage to take advantage of this opportunity”, said head coach John Barrett (University of Toronto). “Russia is always a very good opponent and this match was no different. Our team played good volleyball at times, but against a team like this, we cannot afford a lack of consistency.”

The battle continued through the third as Canada’s confidence remained high and their defense continued to challenge the Russians. The red and white tested the defending champions right until the end when Russia pulled away to earn the victory.

Georgetown, Ont. Native Brandon Koppers led the Canadians with 16 kills, while Ryan Nickifor had nine.

Canada lost its three games so far and is excluded from the medal round. They will close out pool play on Tuesday when they face Switzerland (0-3) on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. (2:00 a.m. ET).

About the Summer Universiade

The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event. 

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, over 11,500 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:

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