VNL 2023: Second week starts today! Japan still undefeated! Three points also for Iran, USA, The Netherlands, Slovenia and Brazil.
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Second week of 2023 Volleyball Nations League started today in Europe, with Pool 3 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and Pool 4 in Orleans, France.
Pool 3 started with a straight sets win of Iran over a disappointing Germany so far (25:23, 26:24, 25:16). For the winners this was their second positive result in the competition, and now they moved up to eighth place.
Opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad led Iran with 16 points, followed by outside hitter Morteza Sharifi, who also contributed with 11, while outside hitter and team captain Moritz Reichert scored 11 points for Germany.
In second game of the day USA comeback after a first-set loss against Serbia to celebrate o their fourth win in five matches
The Europeans had a very promising start, but the rivals react to control the match and close it with a 3-1 (22:25, 25:19, 25:19, 25:21) victory.
This result pushed the Americans to second place in the standings with 12 points, only behind undefeated leaders Japan, while Serbia have dropped to ninth place with two wins, six points.
Setter Micah Christenson played a great match, in which four of his players had a double digits: outside hitter Torey Defalco was the most prolific player, with 17 points including two aces and one block, while right next to him were veteran opposite Matt Anderson, who scored 16 (ten attacks, two aces and four blocks), and outside hitter Aaron Russell, who added 15.
The two USA middle blockers were also decisive, with Jeffrey Jendryk scoring ten points (all in attack) and David Smith adding another nine, with a match-high six blocks.
Despite the defeat, the Serbians had in opposite Drazen Luburic the top scorer of the match, with 19 points including three aces.
Also reaching double digits in scoring was middle blocker Petar Krsmanovic, who scored 11 points.
The Americans dominated the match in three statistical categories, outscoring the Serbians in attack (50 to 45), blocks (11 to 4) and opponent errors (30 to 29), while both sides scored six aces.
Close the picture another team that earned three points, the hosts The Netherlands, who down China 3-0 (25:19, 25:22, 25:21) without major problems.
The second day of the VNL 2023 in Rotterdam will feature again three matches, with Iran and Italy meeting at 13:00 local time, the United States against China at 16:30 local time, and Germany and Poland who closing the day at 20:00 local time.
In Pool 4, in Orleans, France, table leaders Japan stayed unbeaten in the competition celebrating their fifth consecutive win, a 3-1 (25:22, 25:17, 24:26, 25:14) over Canada, leaving the North Americans bottom of the standings with a 1-4 win-loss record and only two points.
Japanās outside hitter and captain Yuki Ishikawa was the most prolific player of the game with 23 points including three aces and a block.
Slovenia started their second week of the VNL with a 3-1 (21:25, 25:21, 25:21, 25:21) victory over Argentina to improve to a 4-1 win-loss record and 12 points in third place of the current charts, while the South Americans are fifth with a 3-2 score and nine points.
Sloveniaās outside hitter Klemen Cebulj scored 17 points including three aces and 2 winning blocks, Rok Mozic added another 16 points, while captain Tine Urnaut ended the game with 12.
For Argentina, Luciano Palonsky scored 17 points, followed by Bruno Lima with 16 (including the teamās only two aces) and middle blocker Agustin Loser with 11.
“For us it is very important to start in a good mood,ā said Cebulj after the match.
“The Argentineans are a very good team. They have a lot of good players who can come inside and they showed it today. But we were concentrated. Only in the beginning, in the first set, we were in a little bit of trouble, but we grew up, kept our concentration high for the rest of the match and won the game.”
The day has been closed with the clear straight sets win of Brazil over Bulgaria (25:22, 25:17, 25:15) to improve to a 4-1 win-loss record and 12 points in the standings.
The South Americans are now third , leaving today’s rivals in 11th place on 1-4 and five points.
Brazilās opposite Alan Souza and Bulgariaās outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov shared the title as top scorer of the match on 14 points each.
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š| 2023 VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE
— Tuesday, June 20, 2023 —
Pool 3 – Week 2 – Rotterdam š³š±
ā¢ 13:00 (Local Time) | Iran – Germany 3-0 (25:23, 26:24, 25:16)
ā¢ 16:30 (Local Time) | USA – Serbia 3-1 (22:25, 25:19, 25:19, 25:21)
ā¢ 20:00 (Local Time) | The Netherlands – China 3-0 (25:19, 25:22, 25:21)
Pool 4 – Week 2 – OrlĆ©ans š«š·
ā¢ 13:00 (Local Time) | Japan – Canada 3-1 (25:22, 25:17, 24:26, 25:14)
ā¢ 16:30 (Local Time) | Argentina – Slovenia 1-3 (25:21, 21:25, 21:25, 21:25)
ā¢ 20:30 (Local Time) | Brazil – Bulgaria 3-0 (25:22, 25:17, 25:15)
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š| STANDINGS (updated on this day):
1. Japan 15
2. USA 12
3. Brazil 12
4. Slovenia 12
5. The Netherlands 10
6. Argentina 9
7. Poland 7
8. Iran 7
9. Serbia 6
10. Italy 6
11. Bulgaria 5
12. France 3
13. Cuba 3
14. Germany 3
15. Canada 2
16. China 2
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…NEXT MATCHES:
— June 21, 2023 —
Pool 3 – Week 2 – Rotterdam š³š±
ā¢ 13:00 (Local Time) | Iran – Italy
ā¢ 16:30 (Local Time) | USA – China
ā¢ 20:00 (Local Time) | Germany – Poland
Pool 4 – Week 2 – OrlĆ©ans š«š·
ā¢ 13:00 (Local Time) | Japan – Cuba
ā¢ 16:30 (Local Time) | Slovenia – Canada
ā¢ 21:00 (Local Time) | Argentina – France
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š|QUICK LINKS
ā¢ All International news šļø
ā¢ VNL 2023: NEWS
ā¢ VNL 2023: CALENDAR
ā¢ Multimedia
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