It's been a good week for the Canadian men's volleyball team, but they're hoping it will be a great weekend in Guanajuato, Mexico.
The 3-0 victory Thursday night over Colombia secured Canada a spot in Saturday's semifinals, and much of the credit for that success is owed to Langley player Jonas Van Huizen.
The men's Canadian team has been playing in the 18th Senior Men鈥檚 Pan American Cup this week on the court at the Domo de la Feria in Leon.
Earlier in the week, Canada defeated Puerto Rico and Guatemala, both 3-1.
They then went on Thursday to sweep Colombia 3-0 (28-26, 25-23, 25-23), in an intense contest that decided the top spot in Pool B, noted Canada's head coach Dave Preston.
"The learning level is high for this team. We have a high level of competitive intelligence and it鈥檚 showing at some critical moments of the game," Preston said.
"We are also learning how to play at altitude, with Leon being 1800m above sea level, and what that can do to the flight of the ball," the coach elaborated.
鈥淲e have varying degrees of experience on this team with four guys making their international debuts. The team is supporting each other through all this and the results of pool play reflect this."
Van Huizen, a 6 ft. 3 in. setter, who graduated from Langley Christian Secondary and went on to study business at the University of the Fraser Valley, was confirmed as part of the team back in late June. In Thursday's matches, he topped all scorers with 15 points, all on kills.
Meanwhile, his a few teammates came close: Jordan Canham added 11 points, and Erik Siksna chipped in 10.
Canada is the defending Pan Am Cup champion and plays in the semi on Saturday, Aug. 30, with the opponent yet to be decided.
"We are grateful for the rest day to recover and prepare for the semis," Preston said of the down time on Friday.
"We will continue to create opportunities for ourselves and take advantage of those chances when they come. I am very proud of the efforts of all the players and staff to get us to this point and confident we will continue to represent Canada with pride throughout the playoffs."
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Another berth earned
In the meantime, in Jiangmen, China, Canada earned another playoff win this week at the FIVB Men鈥檚 U21 World Championship in China.
It was a five set 2-3 (25-18, 20-25, 23-25, 25-22,13-15) battle against Thailand, with Canada winning the tie-break set.
Canada also defeated Puerto Rico and Tunisia, both in straight sets, earlier this week.
That means the Canada U21 plays Brazil for the final 17-18 placings on Saturday, Aug. 30.