By Canadian Press

Canada tops Netherlands in opener of men’s volleyball Olympic qualifier tournament

Sep 30, 2023 | 10:17 AM

XI’AN, China — Canada emerged victorious in its opening match of a men’s volleyball Olympic qualification tournament early on Saturday.

Canada took the final two sets to earn the comeback win over the Netherlands 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 24-26, 25-18, 15-12). Canada is set to face Argentina next on Saturday night. 

The Dutch led in attack points (69-57), but also gave up more points to errors (34-25). Canada led in blocking (13-5) and service aces (8-3).

Canada was led by Toronto’s Arthur Szwarc’s 19 points, followed by Stephen Maar (18) of Aurora, Ont., and Eric Loeppky (15) of Steinbach, Man.

Nimir Abdel-Aziz paced the Netherlands with 29 points.

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

The top two seeds from each of the three eight-team pools qualify for the Olympics. Canada is in Pool C alongside Bulgaria, Argentina, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico and China, host of the current tournament. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2023.

The Canadian Press

For local news delivered daily to your email inbox, subscribe for free to the Lethbridge News Now newsletter here. You can also download the Lethbridge News Now mobile app in the Google Play and the Apple App Stores.