BY LORNE ECKERSLEY
Advance staff
With captain and PCSS grad Gord Perrin leading the way, Canada’s national men’s volleyball came away with bronze medals in Curitiba, Brazil on Saturday.
Canada defeated the US 3-1 in the bronze medal match after going down to defeat against France, the eventual gold medal winners, on Friday. The win was Canada’s best ever showing at the FIVB Volleyball World League, a showcase for the world’s best national senior men’s volleyball teams.
“They really exceeded expectations,” Dr. Dave Perrin, Gord’s dad, said. “They came in as the 8th ranked team.”
Perrin led Canada with 13 points, but leadership was his key contribution on a team that features a number of rising young stars.
“They call him Uncle Gord,” Dave said last week. That’s a subtle change from last year, when “Gordo” helped Canada to its best ever finish in the Summer Olympic Games.
Canada also got strong contributions in the come from behind win over the US (18-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-21) from rising star Sharone Vernon-Evans and Graham Vigrass, who each had 12 points. Ryley Barnes came off the bench to chip in a crucial 10 points.
Gord, who is under contract to play a second professional season in Poland this winter, is now the second oldest player on Team Canada. His sister, Alicia, is a member of the Canadian senior women’s national volleyball team and Dave said she will likely play professionally in Peru this winter. Marshall, brother of Gord and Alicia, was in Creston to watch the volleyball championships on television with his dad. He recently quit his firefighting job in Alberta to direct his time and energy toward his modeling career and social media stardom.