Abbotsford volleyball player Steve Marshall made highlight reels across North America Friday, with an unorthodox sliding kick to save a rally for Team Canada during their opening game of the 2015 Pan Am Games indoor volleyball event.
Late in the second set, with Canada up 23-16, a Canadian serve was returned by Mexico. After a dig that sent the ball deep into Canada’s backcourt, Marshall sprung into action. Forgetting concern for injury, he slid into the advertisement boards, keeping the ball up with a left-footed boot, which then allowed a teammate to bump the ball back across the net to prolong the rally.
The Washington Post wrote that the play was, “nothing short of incredible.”
VIDEO -This insane rally happened in the CAN/MEX volleyball match http://t.co/wyyizEB7B7 @WofVOLLEY @movies_net @FIVBVolleyball @Volleyw00d
— Steven Marshall (@StevenMarshall8) July 18, 2015
The Canadians went on to secure the point as well as the victory, beating Mexico 3-0 in sets, with Marshall earning a point and successful spike on four attempts.
Canada is currently sitting on top of Pool B at 2-0, having also beat Puerto Rico on Sunday, three sets to one.
Games were decided by just a couple of points, in Canada’s favour, in the first two sets. The men then closed out the match in the fourth set, 25-20.
Canada faces the U.S. next in the final preliminary match on Tuesday afternoon. Quarterfinal play kicks off the following day, with semi-finals slated for Friday.
