Hartke piles 33 as USA outlast Canada in comeback from two sets down

Cole Hartke, the 20-year-old opposite of the United States, spearheaded his team with a total of 33 points towards a furious comeback from two sets down in the North American clash with Canada in Ottawa as the fourth competition day in the men’s Volleyball Nations League 2026 unfolded on Saturday. Meanwhile, in a much anticipated clash between two teams undefeated since the start of the season, Brazil hammered out a solid shutout of Serbia in front of an enthusiastic crowd of about seven thousand fans in their capital Brasilia.

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Hosts Canada started well in front of the over 5,700 spectators, won the first set and persevered through an epic second set to double their lead, before USA took control and mastered a 3-2 (20-25, 33-35, 26-24, 25-21, 15-11) reverse sweep to stay unbeaten in the competition and take second place in the current VNL standings at the end of the day, on a 3-0 win-loss record and 8 points. On 1-2 and 5, Canada stand 10^th. The turnaround actually started even in the second set, when coach Karch Kiraly’s squad came back from an eight-point Canadian advantage to push it deep into overtime and, although they lost the set, they got mentally prepared to keep the battle burning.

In his first match as a starter, young hopeful Cole Hartke showed his point-making prowess in all elements and fueled his team with six kill blocks, three aces and 24 points in attack to emerge as the best scorer of the match. Another four of USA’s 18 stuffs were delivered by middle blocker Merrick McHenry, who finished with a 15-point total. Outside hitters Jordan Ewert and Ethan Champlin contributed 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Another five players reached the double digits on the Canadian side – opposite Xander Ketrzynski with 21 points, outsides Eric Loeppky and Stephen Maar with 16 each, and middle blockers Jackson Howe with 13 and Danny Demyanenko with 12. The last two powered Canada’s net defense with a combined nine of the team’s 14 kill blocks in the game.

“That was a good fight from us. We battled and we came back!” an elated Hartke commented for VBTV after the match.

Over in Brasilia, Brazil were well in control of the scoreboard for the most part of the first set against Serbia and through the entire second and third sets on the way to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-22) sweep of their third match on home ground this week, handing Serbia their first defeat in VNL 2026. The South Americans improved to a 3-0 win-loss record and 9 points to occupy the first place in the current VNL standings, while the southern Europeans dropped to 2-1 and 6 in eighth place.

Middle blocker Judson Nunes was the best scorer of the match. He registered an 89% success rate in attack, led the net defense with four kill blocks and added an ace towards a match-high 13 points. Opposite Darlan Souza and outside hitter Douglas Souza chipped in with 10 points apiece, while 19-year-old outside Nikola Brboric was Serbia’s only player to reach the double digits with 11 points.

After Japan beat China in four sets in Linyi in the first VNL match of the day, Slovenia also managed to win their third match in China and stay undefeated. However, their opponents Cuba not only won their first sets of the season, but also earned their first point of the season, pushing the strong opponents to five. Slovenia had to come back from a set down on their way to a 3-2 (25-15, 26-28, 19-25, 25-14, 15-11) victory. Outside hitter Rok Mozic was Slovenia’s leader in this match, especially in the first three sets. He emerged with an impressive 25-point match high, including seven kill blocks. 21-year-old opposite Nik Mujanovic, however, had the key role in the last two sets of the match, when Slovenia hammered out their comeback. He entered the match as a substitution and delivered 16 points, all in swings, also at a 53% success rate. Outside hitters Julio Cardenas and beach volleyball Olympian Nivaldo Diaz led the Cuban team with 14 points each. Slovenia improved to 3-0 and 6 and occupy fourth place after the end of Saturday’s competition day, just below third-placed Japan, while Cuba, on 0-3 and 1, unstuck themselves from the bottom of the table, surpassing Argentina into the penultimate 17^th place.

Argentina started well in their game against World Championship silver medalists Bulgaria in Brasilia, taking the first set, but the Europeans won the next three to celebrate a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-23) victory, their second in a row, which lifted them to sixth place on 2-1 and 6, and left the South Americans pointless in the relegation spot. Bulgaria’s 22-year-old outside Aleksandar Nikolov once again led the way with a match-high 26 points and emerged on top of the best scorers ranking in the league with a total of 75 points in three matches. Against Argentina, he spiked at a 56% success rate and put away one ace and one kill block. His counterpart Luciano Vicentin was Argentina’s most prolific scorer with 16 points. This win also helped Bulgaria climb a spot up the FIVB World Ranking overtaking Canada into number eight.

In the last match of the day, reigning world champions and new World Ranking leaders Italy mastered a 3-0 (29-27, 25-14, 25-20) shutout of Turkiye in Ottawa and rose to fifth place on 2-1 and 7. Turkiye are down to 13^th on 1-2 and 3. Outside Francesco Sani led the winners with a match-high 15 points, including four blocks, while opposite Adis Lagumdzija signed off with a team-high nine points for Turkiye.

There will be three matches at each of the three venues on Sunday. Ukraine and Poland will get the day going in Linyi at 13:00 local time (05:00 UTC). China and Cuba will be next, followed by Slovenia and Japan. Belgium and Iran will serve off the last competition day in Brasilia. The second fixture in the Brazilian capital will offer a southern European classic between Bulgaria and Serbia. A South American derby between Brazil and Argentina will crown the program. The games in Ottawa are Germany v France, Canada v Turkiye and USA v Italy.

VNL 2026 schedule and results
VNL 2026 ticket information

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