Day 5 of the 2021 FIVB Menβs Volleyball Nations League in Rimini (Italy): in the first match of the day, Slovenia defeated Argentina by 3-0 (25:19, 25:22, 25:18). Ziga Stern was the top scorer of the match with 14 points.
Gregor Ropret (SLO): βWe are very happy to be here and to play against these amazing teams. You can see on the court that we are very relaxed and we are trying to win every time and for now everything is going perfect. We didnβt expect to play at such a level immediately, but for now we are playing really good volleyball, block-defence is working great and I hope that we can continue this way. We expect a tough battle every day, there are only top teams, so for sure tomorrow will be another great fight. Germany are a good team, but we believe in our team and ourselves, so if we play like today, the result will be good.β
Jan Martinez Franchi (ARG): βSlovenia played really well today, they served very well and our reception was not so good. I think we need to keep going, we have to improve our spike and serve, because today it didnβt work. We have to put all the pieces together. Tomorrow we will play against the Netherlands. We have to refresh our heads and enter the court with fresh energy as a team to earn victory and make some points.β
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The Netherlands bagged their first win at the competition after defeating Germany in five thrilling sets.
Linus Weber (Germany): βI think it was a high-level game. Both teams showed what they can play, but a few mistakes made the difference for the final score.β
Thijs Ter Horst (The Netherlands): βToday we showed that we have learned from the match against Japan, when we played good and led 2-0, but we forgot to close the game. Today it was also not easy to close, but we did it and itβs another step in progress for our team. We have to stay humble, but being here is a learning process for us. We take each match as it is, so step by step and we will see.β
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Brazil defeated Japan 3-0 (25:20, 25:16, 25:20) led by Wallace de Souza, author of 16 points. The match followed on from their first defeat of the tournament against France yesterday.
Wallace de Souza (BRA): βThe Japanese team have a great defence system and we know about that, but we managed to show how strong our offence is. We also served well and this made a difference. Serbia have many great players, we are aware of that and we know how they play. But we will do our best on the court to win this game tomorrow.β
Yuki Ishikawa (JPN): βIn the first two sets we competed hard with each other. However, because of their strong serves, our reception wasnβt excellent. Brazil had a very good service, but also attack. They have high efficiency in these elements. So this skill we have to improve for the next match. France play technical volleyball, they also have many variations in attack. So we have to adapt and get ready for tomorrowβs match.β
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With an incredible comeback from two sets down and a very solid tie-break, Serbia become the first team to beat France at the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Stephen Boyer (France): βMaybe we lost our focus on the game. They also started to fight harder and we didnβt manage to keep the pace. After the first set they played even better and we missed some little things, they won the game like it. In the tie-break after a 0-4 start, itβs difficult to chase the score. We tried, but they won.β
Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia): βIt was a really important match for us so we wanted to fight until the end. After the first two sets France didnβt play as well as during the first two parts and we used the opportunity. We are happy for this victory, but we play tomorrow again another important match β this time against Brazil and for sure we have our chances, so we have to stay focused tomorrow and prepare good for tomorrow. I can say that France is an amazing team, so thatβs why this victory is even more important. We could play better especially in the first set when we make many unforced mistakes and if we make less mistakes we can also win tomorrow.β
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Beating Bulgaria yesterday was only a little flash of Italy as they today lost their fourth match in the tournament. Iran was better than the rivals, and they beat them in four sets, with Saber Kazemi tallying 24 points and Aliasghar Mojarad making 5 blocks.
Gabriele Nelli (Italy): βWe started well, but after the first two sets we struggled with some balls. But we are on the right track. Maybe a long game yesterday somehow influenced our performance today, but we knew that we have three games in every block. Tomorrow we are expecting another fierce battle.β
Saeid Marouf (Iran): βItaly are always Italy. They play good volleyball, they were great in breakpoints and good in defence and they were very strong in service. It takes time to start our βnormalβ volleyball, but Iβm very happy that we were so successful in important rallies. Like all teams we play with different players, so itβs important to have perfect feeling between players on the court and day by day, game by game itβs better.β
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The Poland National Team prevailed over USA without losing a set and recorded the fourth win in this yearβs VNL. It was a very good performance of players around Vital Heynen who had the rival without main βweaponsβ on the other side of the net, with the exception of Matthew Anderson. Mateusz Bieniek scored 12 points (including 5 blocks) for Poland.
Matt Anderson (USA): βI really didnβt know what to expect β my first time playing at the VNL, my first time playing in a match since the pandemic outbreak in Italy since last spring, so like 15 months since I was on the court. It was a tough game. Poland came out and they served really tough and made some big plays in the beginning of the first and second set. They put us in a difficult spot, but I think that we were responding at this time. We found some energy to rebound.β
Jakub Kochanowski (Poland): βI wouldnβt say that we played perfectly, but for sure we will have a lot of confidence after this victory, because itβs not like the USA are not playing with the best team they have so they donβt play well. Itβs always a tough battle against them and for sure we are very happy that we could show our quality and beat them pretty easily. Even though we had some troubles in the second set we could handle the situation and win 3-0. I didnβt expect it, because I was prepared for a five-set battle.β
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Russia swept Australia but the match could have easily gone to at least four sets given that Australia squandered a 6-point advantage in the third set. Dmitriy Muserskiy and Victor Poletaev put down 14 points apiece for the winners.
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Canada shut out Bulgaria after a long but solid performance for their second win in five matches at the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Tsvetan Sokolov (Bulgaria): βWe had these moments when we didnβt do this, we didnβt score the point. Canada risked a lot with serve and with this kind of serve itβs really difficult to play against them, because they made a good block. We had these moments when we didnβt make it and teams like Canada donβt give away the wins easily. Now we can look forward and we can look to play better, because we have many things to improve.β
Tyler Sanders (Canada): βAny win 3-0 in this tournament is something we will be obviously happy with. The thing I noticed the most is that we stayed extremely patient. Those first two sets we were down for the most of the sets. In fact we could trust ourselves and even if we were missing serves and not making points which we wanted to we actually came around. In the third we started to find a little bit more our ground and we started to play like we could.β
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FIVB VNL 2021 β Results & Program
May 28, 2021 β
France β Bulgaria 3-0 (27:25, 25:21, 25:23)
Germany β Australia 3-0 (25:19, 25:18, 25:16)
Japan β Iran 3-0 (25:19, 25:22, 26:24)
Serbia β Slovenia 3-1 (22:25, 25:18, 36:34, 25:18)
The Netherlands β Russia 1-3 (19:25, 22:25, 25:18, 20:25)
USA β Canada 3-0 (25:17, 26:24, 25:20)
Poland β Italy 3-0 (25:19, 25:20, 25:18)
Brazil β Argentina 3-0 (31:29, 26:24, 25:16)
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May 29, 2021 β
Germany β France 2-3 (25:22, 22:25, 25:22, 16:25, 15:17)
Iran β Russia 1-3 (17:25, 25:20, 20:25, 17:25)
The Netherlands β Japan 2-3 (25:22, 25:23, 22:25, 17:25, 8:15)
Australia β Bulgaria 0:3 (21:25, 20:25, 20:25)
Poland β Serbia 3-1 (26:24, 25:19, 21:25, 25:15)
Italy β Slovenia 0-3 (23:25, 19:25, 15:25)
Argentina β Canada 0-3 (17:25, 21:25, 17:25)
USA β Brazil 0-3 (22:25, 23:25, 19:25)
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May 30, 2021 β
Australia β France 1-3 (26:28, 25:20, 14:25, 23:25)
The Netherlands β Iran 0-3 (18:25 23:25, 28:30)
Germany β Bulgaria 3-2 (19:25, 25:21, 22:25, 30:28, 15:11)
Russia β Japan 2-3 (26:28, 28:26, 25:20, 21:25, 14:16)
USA β Argentina 3-1 (23:25, 25:21, 25:15, 25:19)
Canada β Brazil 1-3 (17:25, 20:25, 25:22, 25:27)
Poland β Slovenia 1-3 (22:25, 25:23, 19:25, 23:25)
Serbia β Italy 3-1 (25:23, 22:25, 25:22, 25:18)
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June 3, 2021 β
Germany β Argentina 2-3 (19:25, 25:23, 25:17, 23:25, 13:15)
Iran β Canada 3-1 (22:25, 25:22, 25:22, 25:22)
Japan β Serbia 1-3 (25:18, 23:25, 22:25, 13:25)
Brazil β France 0-3 (37:39, 18:25, 28:30)
The Netherlands β Slovenia 0-3 (18:25, 15:25, 18:25)
Australia β Poland 0-3 (16:25, 10:25, 12:25)
Italy β Bulgaria 3-2 (25:19, 20:25, 25:13, 23:25, 15:12)
Russia β USA 3-1 (25:22, 25:19, 17:25, 25:19)
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ππΌ June 4, 2021 β
Argentina β Slovenia 0-3 (19:25, 22:25, 18:25)
The Netherlands β Germany 3-2 (25:18, 23:25, 25:20, 23:25, 15:13)
Brazil β Japan 3-0 (25:20, 25:16, 25:20)
Serbia β France 3-2 (22:25, 24:26, 25:22, 25:23, 15:9)
Iran β Italy 3-1 (26:24, 29:27, 21:25, 25:22)
Poland β USA 3-0 (25:17, 28:26, 25:17)
Russia β Australia 3-0 (25:19, 26:24, 25:21)
Canada β Bulgaria 3-0 (28:26, 25:23, 25:16)
ππΌ Standings: Russia 13, Poland 12, Slovenia 12, Brazil 12, France 12, Serbia 11, Iran 9, Japan 7, Germany 8, Canada 6, USA 6, Bulgaria 5, The Netherlands 3, Italy 2, Argentina 2, Australia 0.
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June 5, 2021 β
The Netherlands β Argentina 0-3 (19:25, 20:25, 23:25)
Slovenia β Germany 1-3 (25:19, 20:25, 21:25, 20:25)
France β Japan 3-2 (21:25, 25:22, 24:26, 25:21, 15:11)
Brazil β Serbia 3-1 (23:25, 25:23, 25:15, 25:22)
Russia β Poland 1-3 (25:21, 19:25, 19:25, 14:25)
USA β Australia 3-0 (25:23, 25:20, 25:17)
Bulgaria β Iran 0-3 (20:25, 31:33, 22:25)
Canada β Italy 2-3 (19:25, 21:25, 25:21, 28:26, 11:15)
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June 9, 2021 β
Serbia β Germany 3-1 (19:25, 25:22, 25:18, 25:15)
Japan β Australia 3-1 (25:18, 21:25, 28:26, 26:24)
France β Russia 3-1 (22:25, 25:18, 30:28, 25:19)
Slovenia β Canada 3-0 (25:22, 25:19, 25:22)
Argentina β Italy 0-3 (28:30, 21:25, 20:25)
Iran β USA 3-0 (25:19, 25-23, 25:23)
Poland β Bulgaria 3-0 (25:19, 25:15, 25:12)
The Netherlands β Brazil 0-3 (19:25, 22:25, 25:27)
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June 10, 2021 β
Serbia β Iran 3-2 (21:25, 25:15, 26:28, 25:22, 15:8)
Russia β Canada 3-1 (25:18, 25:18, 23:25, 25:23)
France β Slovenia 2-3 (25:17, 25:19, 23:25, 19:25, 9:15)
Argentina β Australia 3-0 (25:18, 25:19, 25:20)
Germany β USA 0-3 (12:25, 18:25, 27:29)
Bulgaria β Brazil 0-3 (16:25, 22:25, 12:25)
Japan β Italy 3-2 (21:25, 25:22, 22:25, 25:19, 15:9)
Poland β The Netherlands 3-0 (25:14, 25:17, 25:16)
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June 11, 2021 β
Iran β Germany 2-3 (25:23, 20:25, 19:25, 25:19, 13:15)
Slovenia β Russia 3-2 (19:25, 25:23, 22:25, 25:20, 15:8)
Japan β Argentina 1-3 (32:30, 16:25, 18:25, 21:25)
The Netherlands β Bulgaria 2-3 (18:25, 25:18, 25:17, 22:25, 13:15)
Australia β Italy 0-3 (20:25, 22:25, 14:25)
USA β Serbia 1-3 (23:25, 17:25, 25:19, 25:27)
Canada β France 1-3 (25:20, 21:25, 22:25, 17:25)
Poland β Brazil 0-3 (17:25, 26:28, 19:25)
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June 15, 2021 β
Russia β Serbia 3-1 (25:23, 25:22, 22:25, 25:21)
Iran β Australia 2-3 (23,25, 22:25, 25:23, 25:18, 12:15)
Argentina β Bulgaria 3-1 (25:20, 16:25, 25:18, 25:18)
Japan β Germany 3-0 (25:18, 25:22, 25:20)
Italy β USA 0-3 (15:25, 18:25, 21:25)
Canada β Poland 0-3 (22:25, 23:25, 19:25)
Brazil β Slovenia 3-2 (15:25, 25:22, 19:25, 25:13, 15:12)
The Netherlands β France 3-2 (15:25, 22:25, 28:26, 25:23, 19:17)
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June 16, 2021 β
Argentina β Russia 1-3 (19:25, 23:25, 25:21, 19:25)
Serbia β Bulgaria 3-0 (25:20, 25:17, 25:17)
Slovenia β Australia 3-1 (18:25, 25:18, 25:18, 25:17)
Japan β Poland 0-3 (14:25, 18:25, 19:25)
The Netherlands β Italy 1-3 (19:25, 23:25, 25:23, 21:25)
Canada β Germany 3-0 (25:17, 26:24, 25:21)
USA β France 1-3 (23:25, 25:22, 29:31, 22:25)
Iran β Brazil 1-3 (19:25, 25:23, 19:25, 21:25)
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June 17, 2021 β
Argentina β Serbia 3-0 (27:25, 25:20, 26:24)
Bulgaria β Russia 0-3 (17:25, 22:25, 17:25)
Japan β Canada 0-3 (22:25, 23:25, 18:25)
Australia β Brazil 0-3 (17:25, 22:25, 12:25)
Iran β Slovenia 1-3 (25:14, 20:25, 19:25, 30:32)
The Netherlands β USA 2-3 (25:21, 17:25, 25:23, 15:25, 13:15)
France β Italy 2-3 (19:25, 25:22, 20:25, 25:21, 12:15)
Germany β Poland 0-3 (22:25, 19:25, 20:25)
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June 21, 2021 β
Australia β Serbia 1-3 (16:25, 13:25, 25:19, 15:25)
Japan β Bulgaria 3-0 (25:23, 25:18, 25:14)
France β Iran 3-0 (25:21, 25:21, 25:19)
Canada β The Netherlands 3-0 (25:16, 25:16, 25:19)
Brazil β Italy 3-1 (25:19, 32:30, 22:25, 25:20)
Slovenia β USA 3-2 (28:30, 25:19, 21:25, 28:26, 15:13)
Poland β Argentina 3-0 (25:21, 25:22, 25:18)
Germany β Russia 1-3 (18:25, 18:25, 25:23, 15:25)
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June 22, 2021 β
Canada β Australia 3-0 (25:17, 25:8, 25:20)
Serbia β The Netherlands 3-2 (25:21, 21:25, 25:18, 21:25, 17:15)
Bulgaria β USA 0-3 (19:25, 24:26, 9:25)
Iran β Poland 0-3 (20:25, 20:25, 16:25)
Japan β Slovenia 0-3 (16:25, 16:25, 26:28)
France β Argentina 3-0 (26:24, 25:21, 25:22)
Brazil β Germany 3-0 (25:21, 25:21, 25:23)
Russia β Italy 3-2 (25:21, 16:25, 25:17, 19:25, 15:12)
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June 23, 2021 β
Australia β The Netherlands 0-3 (23:25, 19:25, 19:25)
Canada β Serbia 3-2 (17:25, 21:25, 25:17, 25:20, 17:15)
USA β Japan 3-0 (25:21, 25:23, 25:20)
France β Poland 3-2 (25:22, 21:25, 22:25, 25:20, 15:11)
Iran β Argentina 1-3 (31:33, 23:25, 32:30, 18:25)
Slovenia β Bulgaria 3-0 (25:23, 25:16, 25:18)
Italy β Germany 3-2 (25:12, 24:26, 25:22, 21:25, 15:13)
Brazil β Russia 0-3 (21:25, 26:28, 20:25)
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June 26, 2021 β
Semifinal 1: Brazil β France 3-0 (25:20, 25:18, 25:19)
Semifinal 2: Poland β Slovenia 3-0 (25:22, 25:21, 25:23)
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June 27, 2021 β
Final 3/4: France β Slovenia 3-0 (25:20, 25:18, 25:19)
Final 1/2: Brazil β Poland 3-1 (22:25, 25:23, 25:16, 25:14)
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Source and Photos: FIVB