Hiroshima, Japan, October 11, 2019 – Matthew Anderson scored a match-high 20 points as the United States edged Canada 3-2 (25-21, 11-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13) at the FIVB Men’s World Cup on Friday.
USA coach John Speraw: "One of the interesting aspects of this tournament is the ebbs and flows that each team have in their path. We were coming off a tough loss to Brazil. I was concerned about this game. I wanted to play my young guys. It was great to see our middle blockers play well. Garrett played well and with courage. We had to gut it out. Canada served well. We were not as efficient in our passing tonight."
USA captain Micah Christenson: "We have to give credit to Canada. Their service pressure put us in some tough spots. It took us a while to get going tonight. Our young middle blockers played nice for us. We will rest tomorrow and get ready for the next three games."
USA player Mitchell Stahl: "We stayed pretty mellow most of the match. We stuck to our guns and weathered the storm. We got it going in the fifth set. We have to fight tooth and nail to get as many points as we can."
Canada coach Daniel Lewis: "I’m disappointed that we did not win. After the first set they kind of handed it to us. We worked collectively as a group after a tough loss to Argentina. There were several individual achievements tonight. I was proud of Scheerhoorn in the fifth set. We had small victories in the face of defeat."
Canada captain Nicholas Hoag: 'They played very aggressively. They had a strong serve and converted important points in the fifth set. Our young guys on the court got some good experience. There is a lot to learn from this game."