USA prepares for Germany, China as Volleyball Nations League race tightens
Olympics
Lee Feinswog
June 30, 2023
There were six matches Friday in Volleyball Nations League, but that did not include first-place USA, which had the day off after opening the third round with victories over Poland and Bulgaria.
“A day off,” USA coach Karch Kiraly said from Suwon, Korea, “means we have time to regroup and prepare for Germany and China.”
The race is on in the final two days of the third round to make the final eight.
The Americans are in, regardless, because the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal rounds are in Arlington, Texas, and the host team is guaranteed a spot. That’s moot point, of course.
After Friday’s action — which included a big sweep by Türkiye of Brazil and an explosion by Serbia’s Tijana Boskovic against Germany — here’s how the standings look, with match records followed by set records:
1. USA (9-1, 29-12) 2. Poland (9-2, 29-13) 3. Türkiye (8-3, 28-11) 4. Brazil (7-4, 25-18) 5. Germany (7-4, 25-20) 6. China (6-4, 23-16) 7. Japan (6-4, 23-17) 8. Italy (6-4, 23-22)
After that, it’s on, because the logjam includes Serbia (5-5), Netherlands (5-6), Canada (5-6) and the Dominican Republic (5-6).
Saturday, the USA plays Germany in a match that could not only determine the lead, but is huge for Germany. Also in Korea, Korea plays China and Serbia plays the Dominican Republic.
In Bangkok, Thailand, something’s gotta give because after Italy plays Croatia, the Netherlands plays Canada and Thailand plays Japan.
Sunday, the USA finishes with China. Also in Korea, Serbia plays Bulgaria and Poland plays Korea.
In Bangkok, Türkiye plays Croatia, Italy plays Japan and Thailand plays Brazil.
The Americans took the overall lead on Wednesday with their 17-25, 25-15, 27-25, 28-30, 16-14 win over Poland. In that match, veteran outside hitter Kelsey Robinson Cook, the Olympian making her 2023 VNL debut, had 17 kills and three blocks to go with 10 digs. She hit .370.
“The Poland match, the biggest things that stood out were, No. 1, they are really tough when we are not serving tough. They’ve got a couple of middles who are very effective hitting what we would call tight-quick or 1 sets, and in that first set we did not serve well and they passed in system something like 70 percent. They really hurt us offensively and they had some really effective blockers,” Kiraly said.
“We thought it was great that they challenged us and probably the best thing we did was show our ability to commitment and grinding and stay in it, even if we’re down, even if it’s late in a set of any given match. As the match went on our defense got a little better, our blocking against their quicks and we certainly made better choices against their blocking defense.
“Those were all good lessons, win or lose, and it was great to be challenged by such a good team and one of the other top teams in the standings.”
Thursday, the USA blasted Bulgaria 25-15, 25-17, 25-17 as setter Lauren Carlini made her 2023 VNL debut.
“I think one of the challenges there is they are not one of the top teams in the standings, so it’s important for us to take care of the things on our side of the net, regardless of what’s going on on the other side of the net,” Kiraly continued. “We set as a goal for ourselves to serve them out of system a lot and we did that.”
Carlini had a a match-high 10 digs, a kill and two blocks.
“Against Bulgaria it was great to get Lauren Carlini going again. She had a really nice club season in Italy and needed to take some extra time to get in a great state of health and readiness.
“And it was sure exciting and gratifying for Kelsey to play her first match with USA and make it such a long one against Poland. And Lauren got to do the same against Bulgaria and you will plenty more of Lauren in these last two matches of week three.
Friday’s results
TÜRKIYE SWEEPS BRAZIL: Not only did Türkiye win 25-22, 25-15, 25-22, it is guaranteed a top-three finish. The best Brazil can do is finish fourth.
Türkiye, which held a 13-5 blocks advantage, was led by Ebrar Karakurt, who has been tremendous all tournament. She had 18 kills and Türkiye’s only ace. Ilkin Aydin had 11 kills and a block, and Eda Erdem had five kills and six blocks to go with eight digs. Zehra Gunes had three kills and four blocks.
“We feel very good about this win because Brazil has a lot of quality and star players in their team,” Karakurt said. “We will be in the same pool in the Olympic qualification tournament and this gives us more confidence.
Carol Da Silva of Brazil cuts the shot through the Turkish block of Eda Erdam and Ebrar Karakurt/Vollyball World photo
“I feel the pressure, but I always want to help my team. We have a great squad and everyone coming off the bench has the ability to decide a match for us. Finishing the preliminary phase in the top three will be huge for us.”
Brazil go 10 kills from Maiara Basso, who added a block and her team’s only ace.
DR 3, CHINA 2: The Dominican Republic won 20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-20, 15-13 for only its second win ever over China in 27 matches. Gaila Gonzalez went off for 29 kills, three blocks and three aces. Jineiry Martinez had 17 kills, a block and four aces, and Brayelin Martinez had 18 kills and an ace. Brenda Castillo had 19 digs. China got 22 kills and two blocks from Yingying Li and 13 kills, two blocks and an ace from Xinyue Yuan.
SERBIA SURGING: Serbia has won four in a row since a five-set loss to Brazil and the addition of superstar Tijana Boskovic is no small reason why. She had 34 kills, four blocks and an ace to go with a match-high 14 digs in Serbia’s 25-17, 23-25, 25-16, 30-28 win over Germany. In Serbia’s last match, Boskovi had 24 kills in a four-set win over China.
POLAND 3, BULGARIA 1: Poland lost the first set and stormed back to win 26-28, 25-19, 25-16, 25-15. Magdalena Stysiak led a balanced attack with 14 kills and five blocks. Bulgaria’s Radostina Marinova had 17 kills, a block and an ace.
ITALY 3, CANADA 2: Italy kept itself in the hunt and dealt Canada a tough setback. in the 22-25, 25-23, 25-14, 24-26, 15-10 victory. Italy led in blocks 17-10. Alice Degradi had 15 kills, two blocks and four aces. Francesca Villani had 19 kills, a block and an ace. Sylvia Nwakalor had 14 kills and three blocks. Eleanora Fersino had 18 digs. Canada’s Alexa Gray had 16 kills, a block, an ace and 10 digs.
NETHERLANDS 3, JAPAN 1: The Dutch, who had 17 blocks compared to Japan’s two, tightened things up with their 25-22, 25-17, 21-25, 25-20 victory. Celeste Pak had 20 kills and four blocks and Nike Daalderop had 12 kills and four blocks. Juliet Lohuis had seven blocks to go with two kills. Japan’s Yukiko Wada had 17 kills and a block and Sarina Nishida had 13 kills, a block and two aces.
