Gavin Schmitt headlines Canada’s men’s volleyball roster at Rio Games

It's the first time in 24 years that Canada will have a men's team competing in indoor volleyball at the Olympics (Chris Young/CP)

Captain Gavin Schmitt was among 12 athletes named to Canada’s men’s volleyball team on Friday ahead of the Rio Olympic Games.

It’s the first time in 24 years that Canada will have a men’s team competing in indoor volleyball at the Olympics.

The Canadians earned their ticket to the Games last month at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan.

"The whole team has worked very hard to get to Rio 2016, and it was thrilling to qualify in the last chance tournament in Japan early in June," Schmitt said. "Our goal is to make the country proud of our performance at the Games."

Canada is in a group with top-ranked teams including Brazil, Italy, France, the United States and Mexico in Rio.

The rest of the team includes: Blair Bann, Jay Blankenau, Justin Duff, Nick Hoag, Daniel Jansen VanDoorn, Steve Marshall, Gord Perrin, TJ Sanders, Rudy Verhoeff, Graham Vigrass and Frederic Winters. The Canadians are coached by Glenn Hoag.

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