WorldCup: León led Poland to the victory over Russia, Brazil still perfect, incredible blocking display of Canada’s Van Berkel

Poland National team added three more points to their ranking after beating Russia on Day 6 of the 2019 FIVB World Volleyball Cup in Japan. They beat the rivals in four sets, partially 25:27, 25:21, 25:18 and 25:22, in Hiroshima, and this was their fifth victory in a row. So, Poland kept the pace with leaders Brazil and the second-placed USA in the title battle. As for Russia, it was their third defeat. Led by Wilfredo León (19 points, including 4 aces), who served 3 aces in a row during the third set, Poland downed Russia. The entrance of Michał Kubiak in the first set was a moment when the terrible trio of Poland, León-Kurek-Kubiak, was on the court for the first time ever. Interestingly, Poland’s setter Fabian Drzyzga made 4 winning blocks, which is an amazing blocking output for a player on his position. As for Russia, Fedor Voronkov scored 19 points, while Ivan Iakovlev made 5 winning blocks.

Brazil continued their perfect run in the competition, beating their South American rivals Argentina in straight sets (25:19, 25:19, 26:24). Alan Souza was once again on a high level for Brazil, scoring 15 points and helping his team to firm the pole position in the standings with a 6-0 record. Bruno Lima scored 14 for Argentina who are at 2-4.

In a duel of the two teams whose countries have political disputes that spilled over into volleyball on several occasions this year, the USA beat Iran in four sets (25:18, 22:25, 25:18, 25:12). By beating the Asian champions, USA set up a showdown with Brazil tomorrow that will greatly influence the matter of the event winners. As we already said, Brazil are at 6-0, while the USA are breathing down their neck with a 5-1. Aaron Russell was the top scorer for the defending champions today with 18 points while Amir Ghafour scored 17 for Iran who have 2 victories and 4 defeats.

Canada’s 3-2 victory over Tunisia, third overall at the World Cup, was overshadowed by the incredible blocking display of Lucas Van Berkel. The middle blocker of the North American team made 9 winning blocks! It was nearly half of all the team’s winning blocks, 20. Sharone Vernon-Evans was the top scorer for Canada with 23 points while Hamza Nagga scored 30 points including 5 aces for the Africans, which was the best scoring output on Day 6 in general.

2019 FIVB World Volleyball Cup – Day 6:
Tunisia – Canada 2-3 (20:25, 25:20, 27:29, 25:20, 12:15)
Italy – Egypt 3-0 (25:19, 25:21, 25:22)
Argentina – Brazil 0-3 (19:25, 19:25, 24:26)
Poland – Russia 3-1 (25:27, 25:21, 25:18, 25:22)
USA – Iran 3-1 (25:18, 22:25, 25:18, 25:12)
Japan – Australia 3-0 (25:17, 25:22, 25:22)

•2019 FIVB World Volleyball Cup – Day 5
•2019 FIVB World Volleyball Cup – Day 4
•2019 FIVB World Volleyball Cup – Day 3
•2019 FIVB World Volleyball Cup – Day 2
•2019 FIVB World Volleyball Cup – Day 1

Source and photos: worldcup.2019.fivb.com