Canadian men fall to Slovenia in 5 sets at Volleyball Nations League

The Canadian men's volleyball team went the distance against Slovenia at the Volleyball Nations League but were unable to pick up the win on Saturday in Antalya, Turkey.

The Slovenians came away with a five-set victory (22-25, 25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 15-10), but Canada didn't make things easy for their opponents.

"They're a great team, especially blocking-wise," Slovenian setter Gregor Ropret told VBTV after the match. "[The Canadians] did a really good job studying us, they stopped us really well...we were in trouble a lot of times.

"It was a hard match."

Canada's Luke Herr was upbeat after the loss, and said his team played a competitive match against the Slovenians.

"It was a real battle out there [going] back and forth, we didn't come out on top today, but it was an incredible battle," Herr said. "Any team we play in VNL is going to be a tough game.

"We just come out and give it our all."

The Canadian record now sits at 2-2 in VNL play this week. They picked up wins over Bulgaria and hosts Turkey, while taking a loss to top-ranked Poland.

Canada returns home for their next VNL action, hosting in Ottawa in two weeks time. All the action from those matches which will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and on CBC Gem.

The 12th-ranked Canadians have already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after a second-place performance in the Olympic Qualifier pool last year.