One-man show

Canadian conquering Korean volleyball


It seems no one can stop or even restrain him.

Canadian player Gavin Schmitt continues his dominance of the Korean top-division volleyball league, putting his team on the verge of winning the championships title.

Schmitt’s Samsung BlueFangs are vying against the Korean Air Jumbos for the 2010-2011 season title in the V-league.

On Tuesday, the 25-year-old player led the BlueFangs with a match-high 50 kills and a .630 attack percentage to snatch a 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-12) victory over the Jumbos in the second leg of best-of-seven final series.

Facing the focused Jumbos at their home in Incheon, the Daejeon-based BlueFangs could have easily folded and lost the match. But Schmitt made the home side look almost like standing spectators with his dazzling jumps and powerful spikes. He also pulled off an impressive first game, pouring in 46 kills. 

Thanks to the inspired Canadian, the defending champion BlueFangs have swept the first two games in the finals, making a magic number two to retain their title.

The Incheon-side Jumbos, who finished top of the league table this season, are hoping to win their first V-league championship title against the four-time champions BlueFangs.

In order to keep their hope alive, the Jumbos must come up with a better strategy to block Schmitt. It seems, however, there is no way to stop him at the moment, unless he is injured.

The Canadian import’s dominance is, in fact, not a surprise. In his debut season of 2010, he was voted MVP after scoring a record 1,110 points with a .555 attack percentage.

He has continued the momentum this season by pouring 839 points in 29 games in the regular season, and also 216 points in the last five games in the playoff series.

Meanwhile, some blame the Canadian for making the game too dull. But the BlueFangs manager Shin Chi-yong said that “winning the game is more important.”

“The final series is battle between the aces. Our ace is Gavin, our fate depends on him,” he said. The BlueFangs now face the Jumbos at home in Daejeon for the third game on Thursday.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)