By Toby White
They say a Danish is a doughnut without a hole. The Danes were unable to find the hole in Team Canada’s defense on Wednesday, though. The Canadian men’s volleyball team, who continue to dominate the court at the 2003 Summer Universide in South Korea picked up a 3-0 sweep of Denmark on Wed., Aug. 27 in Daegu, clinching the top spot in their pool. The win will send the Canucks to the quarterfinals against Japan on Thursday.
Canada was slow off the mark in the first set, giving the Danish team an early lead. The team got their act together and started executing their blocks, however. Picking up six straight points after a 19-19 tie, the team won the set 25-19.
Early in the second set the Danes managed to stay close to the Candians. As has been the story in past games however, the Canadian defenders turned on the steam and took the set 25-21. The Canadian wall was fortified once again in the third set, giving Canada a 25-23 victory.
Canada’s defense was in large part due to the effort by University of Calgary’s Sean Kendal. Kendal delivered four stuff blocks against the Danes. Captain Mike Munday of Manitoba was once again impressed with his team’s effort.
“These guys were awesome today,” Munday said. “I struggled this afternoon and they bailed me out with some great blocking, hitting and digging. This is the best we`ve played as a team.”
Head Coach Greg Ryan from the Dinos was once again impressed by his team’s effort, but advised them to mentally prepare for tougher play in the playoffs.
“We are playing really well,” Ryan said. “But this is a new tournament now and when you get this far you have to step it up to get to the semi-finals.”
If Canada defeats Japan they will go on to play the winner of the France vs Turkey series.