Volleyball Nations League: Germany, DR, Brazil, Thailand, Poland, Turkiye win; USA plays Italy Friday
News
Lee Feinswog
June 1, 2023
The USA women were all smiles after beating Serbia/Volleyball World photo
The USA women, who opened Volleyball Nations League play with a five-set victory over Serbia on Wednesday, are back in action Friday in Antalya, Türkiye when they play Italy.
Italy opened play Tuesday with a five-set, come-from-behind victory over Thailand, had Wednesday off, and on Thursday lost in four to Poland.
Also Thursday in VNL, in Nagoya, Japan, Germany swept Croatia, the Dominican Republic rallied to beat Bulgaria in five, and Brazil swept the Netherlands.
In Türkiye, Thailand swept Canada and Türkiye beat Serbia in four.
Before the USA plays Italy in Antalya, Thailand plays Poland and Korea plays Canada.
Earlier in Japan, Germany plays China, the DR plays the Netherlands and Croatia plays Japan.
In the victory over Serbia, the USA got tremendous production from two VNL first-timers, former Kentucky and Baylor standout Avery Skinner (17 kills) and former USC star Khalia Lanier (13 kills).
“Our outsides, Avery and Khalia, did a really nice job holding up considering they had never played a single play of FIVB international-level volleyball,” USA coach Karch Kiraly said.
The USA won 25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-12.
“We battled fiercely. It wasn’t always pretty but we always came together. Even after the bad plays we hung together and that’s not easy to generate that kind of connection so quickly. But our group is doing a nice job of that.”
Italy “has got some people who are going to be a handful,” Kiraly said, noting in particular opposite Sylvia Nwakalor and middle Anna Danesi. “She’s a fixture in the Italian league and on their national team. Our hitters are going to have to pick their spots wisely and we hope obviously to be in system plenty to give her less time to respond.
“We look forward to these challenges. We’ve got three in a row, first Italy, then less than 24 hours later Korea, and a little over 24 hours later we have Türkiye. Three great challenges in three days and we’ll take it one single point at a time.”
Germany’s Hanna Orthmann blasts through the Croatian block/Volleyball World photo
GERMANY 3, CROATIA 0: Germany improved to 2-0 with a 25-18, 25-23, 25-23 win. Hanna Orthmann had a match-high 20 kills and three of her team’s 10 aces. Camila Weitzel had nin kills, three blocks and an ace.
Croatia (0-2) got 16 kills from Andrea Mihaljevic, who had a block and an ace. Her teammates combined for 27 kills.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 3, BULGARIA 2: The DR won a roller-coaster of a match 22-25, 25-16, 16-25, 25-14, 15-11 as Brayelin Martinez had 23 kills, 14 digs and two blocks. Gaila Gonzalez added 16 kills, a block, 11 digs and two aces, and Jineiry Martinez had 15 kills and a block. Bulgaria’s Elena Becheva had 16 kills and a block. Both teams are 1-1.
Netherlands setter Sarah van Aalen gets low against Brazil/Volleyball World photo
BRAZIL 3, NETHERLANDS 0: Ana Cristina de Souza had 20 kills, two blocks and an ace in the 25-23, 25-23, 25-21 victory for Brazil (1-1). Julia Bergmann had 10 kills, two blocks and an ace and Kisy Nascimento had 10 kills and an ace. Elles Dambrink led the Netherlands (0-2) with nine kills and two blocks.
THAILAND 3, CANADA 0: Thailand is 2-0 after its 25-17, 26-24, 25-21 win as Wipawee Srithong had 16 kills, a block and an ace and Chatchu-On Moksri had 14 kills, 16 digs, two blocks and an ace.
Canada (0-2) got the bulk of its kills from former NCAA players eight by Alexa Gray (BYU), eight by Andrea Mitrovic (Buffalo), six by Layne Van Buskirk (Pitt). and five by Emily Maglio (Hawai’i).
Thailand was outblocked 11-6 but had a 6-1 service aces advantage.
POLAND 3, ITALY 1: Italy struggled in its opening five-set win over Thailand and it caught up with the defending champions in their next match, as Poland came away with a 21-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-18 win. Poland (2-0) got 22 kills and two blocks from Magdalena Stysiak. Agnieszka had seven kills, four blocks and two aces, and Martyna Lukasik had 10 kills and three blocks. Maria Stenzel had 16 digs and Katarzyna Wenerska had 12. Italy’s Sylvia Nwakalor had 5 kills, a block and an ace.
TURKEY 3, SERBIA 1: Melissa Vargas led a balanced attack with 17 kills for Türkiye (2-0) in its 24-26, 25-17, 25-15, 25-21 victory. She added a block and three aces. Ebrar Karkurt had nine kills, two blocks and three aces. Hande Baladin and Ilkin Aydin had 11 killls each. Serbia’s Aleksandra Uzelac and Sara Lozo had 12 kills each.
Check out VNL match times and TV listings. All VNL matches can be watched on VolleyballWorld.TV. Use the promo code VOLLEYBALLMAG for a discount on monthly or annual subscriptions.
