Team Canada improved to a record of two wins and three losses on Friday from the 2021 Volleyball Men’s Nations League in Rimini, Italy. In a dominant performance, Team Canada trounced Bulgaria 28-26, 25-23, 25-16.
Nicholas Hoag of Sherbrooke, Quebec led the Canadian attack with 16 points. Canada’s second leading scorer was Arthur Szwarc of Toronto, Ontario, who had 14 points.
Nicholas Hoag is the son of Canadian men’s volleyball head coach Glenn Hoag of La Tuque, Quebec. A veteran of the Canadian men’s volleyball program, Glenn Hoag originally coached Team Canada internationally from 2006 to 2016. After announcing his retirement five years ago, he returned to be the head coach of the Canadian national team in 2018. Since returning to Canada as their head coach, Glenn Hoag helped Canada qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
In addition to beating Bulgaria at the Volleyball Men’s Nations League, Canada defeated Argentina earlier in the tournament. That win was also in straight sets as Canada was victorious by a score of 25-17, 25-21, 25-17. On Saturday, one would think Canada would have faced a tough test against the host Italians. However, Italy has struggled in the early going, as they only have a record of one win and four losses in Nations League. The Italians have been beaten by Poland, Slovenia, Serbia and Iran.
