VNL 2023: Italy destroy China, Japan down also Brazil! Very important win for Canada; Serbia, and Slovenia ok

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Second week of 2023 Volleyball Nations League continued today with other six games, 3 for each pool.

In Pool 3 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, with 12 winning blocks, Italy secured their fourth-straight victory in the competition.
The world champions have definitely found their rhythm, dominating China with a 3-0 (25:13, 25:19, 26:24) victory that placed them in fifth place with four wins and 12 points in the standings.
Italy started the VNL 2023 with defeats against Argentina and USA, in Ottawa, Canada, but haven’t lost again after that, claiming victories against Cuba and Germany in Canada, and starting their campaign in Pool 3, in Rotterdam, with two perfect successes against Iran and China, with just two sets loss in the last four matches.
Opposite Yuri Romanò was the top scorer of the match against the Chinese with 12 points including four winning blocks, while Daniele Lavia and Simone Anzani also contributed adding 11 points each.
China had in outside hitter Dejun Zhai their most productive player with 12 points in the match, all in attack.
Italy dominated the rivals in all elements, but their advantage in blocks (12 to three) was probably the most decisive one. The Europeans also made slightly better in attack (36 to 35), aces (four to one) and opponent errors (24 to 17).
Italy will be back on the court on Friday against Serbia, at 20:00 local time (18:00 UTC), while China will have the day off before playing against Germany on Saturday, at 20:30 local time (18:30 UTC).

On the same Pool, Serbia down Germany with the score of 3-1 (25:21, 20:25, 25:23, 25:23).
Opposite Drazen Luburic led the Serbian victory with 16 points, followed by outside hitter Miran Kujundžić, with 14, while Middle blocker Anton Brehme and opposite Linus Weber scored 15 points each for Germany.

Poland celebrated another tie break win, this time over Pool
hosts The Netherlands, 2-3 (25:22, 18:25, 25:18, 22:25, 11:15).
2018 world champion, Jakub Kochanowski scored 17 points with 90.91% success rate, five aces in 14 serves and two blocks.
The Poles, who also benefited from 14 points from superstar Wilfredo Leon, while Dutch star opposite and team captain Nimir Abdel-Aziz was the match’s top scorer, with 23 points and two aces.

In Pool 4 in Orleans, France, table leaders Japan contunued their winning streak as well as their perfect campaign celebrating a 3-2 (25:23, 25:21, 18:25, 22:25, 18:16) win over powerhouse Brazil, their seventh since the start of the competition.
However, they lost their first point, so now they have 20 on top of the current standings, while Brazil are fourth on a 4-2 win-loss record and 13 points.
Three Japanese players topped the scorers’ chart of the match with more than 20 points each: outside hitter and captain Yuki Ishikawa ended the game as top scorer with 27, including two aces, followed by opposite Kento Miyaura with 24, including an ace and a block, and outside hitter Ran Takahashi with 21, including two aces. Miyaura and Takahashi registered high success rates in attack, 59% and 61%, respectively, while Opposite Alan Souza was Brazil’s top scorer with 20 points, all in attack.
In their next matches on Saturday, Japan will face Argentina at 13:00 local time and Brazil will play against Slovenia at 16:30.

On the same Pool, Canada makes a very important step towards VNL survival after claiming a 3-1 (22:25, 25:23, 25:22, 25:20) victory over Bulgaria.
With both sides among the four challenger teams with just a win each before that match, the North Americans celebrated their second to step ahead in the race for survival. With a 2-5 win-loss record and five points, they surpass Bulgaria into the 11th place in the current standings, leaving the Europeans in 12th with 1-5 and five.
Both teams are still ahead of challengers Cuba (1-4 and three) and China (1-6 and two).
Canada’s outside hitter Stephen Maar was the top scorer of the match with 16 points, including an ace and a block, while middle blocker Danny Demyanenko also contributed with three aces and two kill blocks towards a 15-point total. Opposite Arthur Szwarc also finished with 15 (two aces, one block), and so did Bulgarian rising star Aleksandar Nikolov.
Despite the loss, the Europeans outblocked the North Americans with 11 points against seven, with middle blocker Aleks Grozadnov scoring five.

Close the picture Slovenia’s win over Cuba with the score of 3-1 (22:25, 25:15, 25:16, 25:19).

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🏐| 2023 VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE

— June 22, 2023 —

Pool 3 – Week 2 – Rotterdam 🇳🇱

• 13:00 (Local Time) | China – Italy 0-3 (13:25, 19:25, 24:26)

• 16:30 (Local Time) | Serbia – Germany 3-1 (25:21, 20:25, 25:23, 25:23)

• 20:00 (Local Time) | The Netherlands – Poland 2-3 (25:22, 18:25, 25:18, 22:25, 11:15)

Pool 4 – Week 2 – Orléans 🇫🇷

• 13:00 (Local Time) | Japan – Brazil 3-2 (25:23, 25:21, 18:25, 22:25, 18:16)

• 16:30 (Local Time) | Canada – Bulgaria 3-1 (22:25, 25:23, 25:22, 25:20)

• 20:30 (Local Time) | Slovenia – Cuba 3-1 (22:25, 25:15, 25:16, 25:19)

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day):
1. Japan 20
2. Slovenia 18
4. USA 15
3. Brazil 13
5. Argentina 12
6. Italy 12
7. Poland 11
8. The Netherlands 11
9. Serbia 9
10. Iran 7
11. Canada 5
12. Bulgaria 5
13. Germany 4
14. France 3
15. Cuba 3
16. China 2