This week the Team Canada Masters 50’s traveled to St. George Utah to compete for the Global Cup, billed as the World Championship of Volleyball for players over 50.
Teams from six countries vied for the cup, coming from Germany, Poland, Russia, Brazil, USA and Canada.It was a grueling schedule with 5 round robin matches and a double knockout championship bracket that saw Team Canada in 10 matches over 4 days.
Through the Round Robin, all players saw action and Canada ended with a record of 2 wins and 3 losses, losing in close sets with USA and Poland. It was apparent after the first two days of competition that all teams were capable of capturing the cup, and competition would be fierce.
It also became evident that the play of Olympians Don Saxton and Larry Plenert would be key factors in reaching the goal of gaining a medal.
In the first match of the playoffs, Canada struggled to a 7-1 deficit in the first game. Ian Gregory came off the bench and with Saxton and Plenert taking it up a notch, cruised back to take Brazil in three straight sets.
Match 7 was against Team USA, and it was indeed a battle of the giants. Game 1 went to Canada, game 2 to the US side, Canada dominated game 3, and the US stormed back to take the 4th. Unfortunately an injury to Larry Plenert seemed to be the difference, as he was forced to the sideline and Team USA took the 5th and deciding set despite the best efforts of Saxton’s amazing blocking and hitting display.
This put Canada on the long road to reach any hope of a medal, and on day 4 they started Mike Lipovetsky setting and took Germany in the first game 25-21. Don Saxton came up lame in game 2 with a knee injury and Germany’s star, Trajan, took advantage crushing the Canadian side 25-5. Once again Ian Gregory came in off the bench and Saxton returned, playing through the pain to lead Canada to a 15-6 romp in the third set.
A gold medal chance was foiled by Poland in the next match despite strong hitting by Bernie Pare and a spectacular dig by Plenert. Canada lost a heartbreaker 15-13 in the third to Poland. Setter Keith Gallicano was a standout for Canada, but the Polish defence was stalwart.
After a loss to Russia, the Poles had to meet Canada again for the Bronze. Gallicano got the call to lead a battered, bruised and injured Canadian squad in their 10th match and 3rd meeting with Poland. Left side Dave Kepler made sure the traditional Loonie was taped to the net post for the medal match.
Mike Sayers broke out the spin serve to put Canada into an early lead, and Canada’s passing allowed Gallicano to use Saxton’s offensive abilities to shred the Polish defense. Game one was a 25-13 blowout for the Canucks. Game 2 was a different story as a determined Polish squad rallied back, and at 10-10 Setter Mike Lipovetsky went in to serve. Canada was able to score 3 points on his serve, and hung on to finish on a huge block by Bernie Pare to take the bronze 25-20.
Coaches Tokarsky and Bartlett had high praise for the Canadian squad citing the court leadership of Saxton and Plenert, energy of John Marquart, and a strong bench to support such a grueling schedule.
Next year Utah will host the Women’s World Championships for 50’s Masters. Interested players should contact George Tokarsky at gtokarsky@hotmail.com
Volleyball Canada’s support of Masters Volleyball is recognized and appreciated by all those involved in the program.
Canada’s Roster:
Don Saxton
Keith Gallicano
Larry Plenert
John Markwart
Mike Sayers
John Sherstobitoff
Dave Kepler
Bernie Pare
Ian Gregory
Mike Lipovetsky |
