Hiroshima, Japan, October 9, 2019 – Sharone Vernon-Evans scored 23 points as Canada beat Tunisia 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 27-29, 25-20, 15-12) at the FIVB Men’s World Cup on Wednesday.
Canada coach Daniel Lewis: It was a difficult match. They put pressure on us with their serve. We missed opportunities to put the ball in play. We tried to make adjustments. Our block defense was good. We had too many net faults. We need to do a better job on transition balls. If we can get our efficiency even up 15-20 percent on high balls that would be better."
Canada captain Nicolas Hoag: It was important to win. We blocked well. We had ups and downs in the match. We were more consistent with everything. We had more digs and transitions. We got the victory and had the chance to rest some of our players, which you need to do in a long tournament like this. We hope to win tomorrow against Argentina.
Canada player Sharone Vernon-Evans: ”We’re just happy that we came out and won it in five sets. Everyone can play on our team. We need guys to step up and play well. My job is to score any way that I can."
Tunisia coach Antonio Giaccobe: "It was a close match. Canada was strong in block and defense. We made some mistakes. This is the first step. I’m satisfied with the performance of my team. It is not easy to play Canada. We feel better now than we did in the first pool."
Tunisia captain Hosni Kara: :We showed good play but could not get the result. We made some mistakes late in the fifth set. It was a good match. Both teams played well."