David sizing up another Goliath
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Canadians head into quarter-finals with confidence on their side
RIO DE JANEIRO — At 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, there’s not much that will intimidate Gavin Schmitt.
And it’s a similar tone the Canadian men’s volleyball team will take into the quarter-finals here Wednesday following a run of results that have made them surprising contenders at this Olympic tournament.
Already in group play, the upstart Canadians have knocked off two of the powerhouses of the sport — the United States and Italy — and will look for another when they face Russia in their first elimination game.
But if you think Schmitt, of Saskatoon, and his teammates are satisfied with merely getting this far, best think again.
“We’ve known for a long time we can compete on a regular basis against the best teams in the world and we’re showing that now,” Schmitt said after a mid-day practice in advance of the knockout-round clash. “We pushed Brazil and they are the No. 1 team in the world. And we beat the Americans and Italy and they’re all playing at a high level. But we’re not ready to go home yet. Our objective is to go home with a medal. We’re not here to be tourists.”
Though perhaps not a surprise to the players on the court, the Olympic tournament has been a big breakthrough for the Canadians. Many on the team weren’t even born in 1992, the last time the country qualified a men’s team for the Games.
There were no jitters, however, and they opened with a straight-sets win over the U.S. that set them on course to advance out of group play. With three wins in five matches and strong performances against three of the top teams, confidence is at a high entering the elimination phase.
Even in the loss to Brazil, where volleyball is a huge part of the sporting culture, they didn’t back down despite a frenzied full house working against them.
“The first game against the U.S., guys came in pretty alert and ready,” said Schmitt, who leads Canada with 70 points. “To take them down, that signalled that this is something we can really do if we keep playing well.”
Next up is the quarter-final match against the reigning Olympic champion Russians. A win there would put them in a semifinal against whoever prevails in the Brazil-Argentina quarter-final.
“It’s nice to beat a really good team like Italy,” said Canadian hitter Frederic Winters. “We knew we could control our destiny with a win, so it was a lot of pressure for us. It was big for our confidence.”
Canada has faced Russia seven times in major international events with only one win. But Tuesday’s win over Italy — which was resting some of its star players — was the first in 16 matches. That allowed Canada to secure second spot in Group A.
“The (match against) Russia is a big one, but we’ll approach it as we have with all our previous ones and that’s to focus on ourselves,” Schmitt said. “Everybody’s fighting for gold and wants it real bad.”
The low expectations outside of the men on the court and the man who coaches them, Glenn Hoag, were well-earned. The last time Canada competed in an Olympic volleyball tournament was in 1992, when they finished 10th out of 12 teams.
The program was in disarray after that and it has only been in the past decade that Hoag has built it first to respectability, second to Olympic standards and finally to the place they are now.
All involved recognize the significance of ending the Olympic drought and of seeing a sport turn the corner toward respectability. On Wednesday morning at the Maracanazinho Arena, there’s something much bigger on the line.
“There is a sense of pride there, that we got to the Olympics and had some success,” Schmitt said. “But it’s something that will sink in when it’s done. Nobody on this team wants to be happy with what we’ve accomplished so far. The next one is the biggest one.”