Summerside, Canada, June 13, 2015 – Canada snapped their two-match losing streak when they defeated Bulgaria 3-1 in Pool C of the FIVB Volleyball World League at the Credit Union Place on Saturday.
Canada coach Glenn Hoag: “It was a nice win. We were a little better from the serving line today, taking a little more risk but at the same time causing more damage with their receiving and enabling us to stop their offence. Gavin Schmitt didn’t play tonight and I think he is going to be stopping now for a couple of weeks. Now we are going to Cuba with this group here and we will have to fight. It is Steve Marshall’s second match in this position and he brings a different dynamic. It’s going really well.”
Canada captain Frederic Winters: “I thought we played really well. When we played with Steve Marshall, he gives our team a different dimension. We can receive better, we dig a lot more balls, and he plays really well in attack. Every time we’ve asked him to play he’s done really well on the left side or as opposite. Our team is really comfortable playing with him and that’s good because Gavin can’t play in every match. A couple of guys that haven’t gotten the chance to play, like Max (Burt), went in and did well. I’m sure he’s not super happy with his performance but it’s hard to come in and play right away in a must-win game for us, but he did well and it was nice to see that.
Bulgaria coach Plamen Konstantinov: “It was a different match from the one yesterday. We tried some different players today, both our teams. I can say that I am not satisfied with the play today. I wanted to see something different on the court, with more passion. We played like we don’t care so this is the thing that I didn’t like today. We are going to talk seriously about this. I think the most important thing is that we must show that we want to try. The score doesn’t matter. It’s not important if we make a mistake or lose, but we must all play all matches with heart.”
Bulgaria captain Andrey Zhekov: “I think the level was worse than yesterday for sure. I think both teams were tired from the game yesterday. Canada were also tired but they played better than us. They were better in reception and more efficient in attack.”