Larry McKay, photo ©Kelly Morton
The University of Winnipeg Wesmen men’s volleyball Head Coach Larry McKay and former Wesmen volleyball player Justin Duff are now members of the Canadian National Team that is in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic games. The Canadians qualified for the Olympics at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tokyo, Japan this past June, marking the men’s team’s first appearance at the games since 1992 in Barcelona.
UWinnipeg wishes Justin, Larry and all of Team Canada the best of luck in the upcoming games.
“It is great to see Justin performing so prominently for Canada in our return to the Olympics in Men’s Volleyball,” shared Dave Crook, Acting Athletic Director. “Justin had an outstanding career with the Wesmen including Athlete of the Year and was a part of our 20 national championships, winning the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Gold medal in 2007. Everyone in the Wesmen family is cheering for Justin and of course coach McKay.”
The men’s team has already defeated the United States, and will face Brazil tomorrow, Tuesday, August 9, 2016.
Duff earned The University of Winnipeg’s male athlete of the year in 2009/10 and also earned the title First Team Canada West All-Star in the same year in volleyball. He was also a member of the 2006-07 Wesmen MVB team that won a National Championship in his his first year. Duff graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 2011 in mathematics and earned many other titles while playing for the Wesmen.
Justin Duff, photo ©Kelly Morton
About the Canadian National Team
Canada knocked China out of the race for the final ticket after their victory in the fifth set (25-16, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-9). However, the Canadian team had to wait until Poland — already qualified and number one at the tournament — beat Australia in three sets following Canada’s match before knowing its fate.
