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.

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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