VNL 2023: tie break win for Serbia and Bulgaria. 3 points for Italy and undefeated Japan. Poland stun Brazil!

Third week of 2023 Volleyball Nations League continued today with other six games.

In Pool 5 in Anaheim, the United States, Serbia claim a critical five-set victory over Cuba, a result that means the Europeans moved up to ninth place with two more matches to play, with five wins and 13 points.
Serbia had to push hard for it, but managed to secure a very important win to maintain their hopes of competing in the Finals, and the game ended after a dramatic tie break, 3-2 (19:25, 25:23, 25:21, 22:25, 15:11).
Cuba continue threatened by relegation with just two wins, but the point earned against Serbia helped the Caribbean earn one spot, passing China and moving to 14th place.
Drazen Luburic and Miran Kujundžić were decisive in Serbian victory with the 29-year-old opposite scoring 18 points including two aces and one block, and the 26-year-old outside hitter adding another 16 including two aces, one block too.
JesusHerrera played an outstanding match, with 30 points for Cuba including five aces and one block but, eventually, the ten-point difference in opponent errors (40 to 30 in Serbia’s favor) proved to be decisive for the final result.

In the first match of the day in California, Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists Argentina secured a spot in the VNL 2023 Finals with a 3-0 (25:23, 25:18, 25:17) victory against Germany.

On the same Pool, Bulgaria down Iran at tie break (21:25, 25:21, 22:25, 25:22, 15:11) while, with a victory against direct rivals Serbia, the defending champions France depend only on their own efforts to qualify to the Finals.
The Olympic champions won a dramatic match against Serbia securing a 3-1 (20:25, 25:23, 25:20, 28:26) victory that significantly improved their chances of making their trip to Gdansk, Poland, from July 19-26.
France, in fact, have now five wins in ten matches (15 points) and rank ninth, with the same number of victories as the Netherlands, but two points less.
If they win their last two matches, they will qualify for the Finals. Serbia went down from ninth to tenth, but remain in the mix with five wins and 13 points.
Olympic champions Jean Patry and Trevor Clevenot led the French attack with 35 points in two: the opposite led all scorers with 18 including two blocks, one more than the outside hitter, who got his entire production in attack.
Bultor, who came off the bench in the second set, also played a major role in the French victory, scoring 13 points including four blocks.
Serbia also had four players reaching double digits in scoring: opposite Drazen Luburic (17), outside hitter Marko Ivovic (12) and middle blockers Petar Krsmanovic (11) and Aleksandar Nedeljkovic (ten).

In Pool 6 in Pasay City, Philippines, super star Wilfredo Leon fuels Poland to a big win over Brazil, scoring 22 points in a four-set match!
With both sides already with guaranteed spots at the Finals in Gdansk, Poland and Brazil played a four-set battle (25:23, 22:25, 25:21, 25:21).
The hosts of the Finals are already on an 8-2 win-loss record and 19 points in third place in the current standings, while Brazil are sixth with 7-4 and 22 points.
Although it was mostly a game with lot of errors, with Brazil committing 34 against 27 of the rivals, Leon also made the difference with an ace, a kill block and above all 20 points with 61% success rate.
Opposite Alan Souza was Brazil’s most prolific player with 17 points, including two blocks.
On Saturday, at 11:00 local time (03:00 UTC), Brazil will take on China. Four hours later, at 15:00 (07:00), Poland will face Canada.

On the same Pool, Slovenia, already qualified to the Finals after a 3-1 victory over China yesterday, suffered a defeat against already qualified too Italy, 0-3 (13:25, 22:25, 17:25).
This is the eighth win for defeanding World and European champions and, as usual, they started in a perfect way and the game is one-sided, with Slovenia who never start to play, with as many as 14 suffered blocks.
Although the only 3 sets played, three Italian players ended the game in double digits: Romanò 16, Michieletto and Lavia with 13 each, but good job also for middle blockers with 8 points from Russo (4 blocks and 1 aces) and 5 from Galassi.

Close the picture another win of undefeated Japan, who celebrated a 3-1 (25:19, 26:24, 23:25, 25:17) win over The Netherlands, although the 21 points of a very good Ter Maat.

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🏐| 2023 VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE

— July 07, 2023 —

Pool 5 – Week 3 – Anaheim 🇺🇸

• 17:00 (Local Time) | Serbia – Cuba 3-2 (19:25, 25:23, 25:21, 22:25, 15:11)

• 20:30 (Local Time) | Bulgaria – Iran 3-2 (21:25, 25:21, 22:25, 25:22, 15:11)

• 13:30 (Local Time) | Serbia – France 3-1 (20:25, 25:23, 25:20, 28:26)

Pool 6 – Week 3 – Pasay City 🇵🇭

• 11:00 (Local Time) | Poland – Brazil 3-1 (25:23, 22:25, 25:21, 25:21)

• 15:00 (Local Time) | Slovenia – Italy 0-3 (13:25, 22:25, 17:25)

• 19:00 (Local Time) | Japan – The Netherlands 3-1 (25:19, 26:24, 23:25, 25:17)

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day):
1. Japan 27
2. USA 24
3. Italy 23
4. Argentina 22
5. Brazil 22
6. Slovenia 22
7. Poland 19
8. France 18
9. The Netherlands 17
10. Serbia 11
11. Iran 9
12. Bulgaria 8
13. Germany 7
14. Canada 6
15. China 6
16. Cuba 6

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…NEXT MATCHES:

— July 08, 2022 —

Pool 5 – Week 3 – Anaheim 🇺🇸
• 17:00 (Local Time) | Cuba – Germany
• 20:30 (Local Time) | USA – Argentina
• 13:30 (Local Time) | Bulgaria – Serbia

Pool 6 – Week 3 – Pasay City 🇵🇭
• 11:00 (Local Time) | Brazil – China
• 15:00 (Local Time) | Poland – Canada
• 19:00 (Local Time) | Japan – Italy

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