The race to the Finals continues at the 2021 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League after Week 3 concluded on Tuesday with the United States remaining as the solitary unbeaten squad after nine matches, while upsets and Cinderella endings contributed to the excitement of the tournament.
VNL 2021
Top two teams in women’s VNL face off in Week 4
Race to Finals intensifies
Published 05:00, 12 Jun 2021
Turkey’s four-set loss to the Dominican Republic and their tie-break win over Russia, and Brazil’s five-set defeat against China opened an opportunity for other squads to catch up in the lead up to the final round.
And interesting changes are likely to take place in Week 4 as tournament leaders USA are grouped with Japan and their 2018 VNL Finals rivals Turkey.
USA won their first two matches in straight sets in Week 3 before they dropped a set for the second time on Tuesday against hosts Italy. The scoring chores have been fairly shared in the last three outings by Annie Drews, Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, Haleigh Washington and Kelsey Robinson. And that has been the story of their successes each week.
The North American side will have tough competition in Week 4 as they face Japan’s scoring troika of Sarina Koga, Mayu Ishikawa and Ai Kurogo, and the resilient Turkish team led by their scoring tandem of Ebrar Karakurt and Eda Erdem.
The 2018 VNL Finals rivalry between USA and Turkey is very much alive as the Americans occupy first place and the Europeans the second. Their matchup is Week 4’s closing match on June 14.
But before all that, the result of the Japan-Turkey fixture will shape things up and could make the race tighter for places in the Finals.
The young Japanese wing players Koga, Ishikawa and Kurogo are putting their opponents’ defences under a lot of pressure with their well-placed attacks.
There were also great efforts from their libero Mako Kobata and their middle blockers Erika Araki and Nichika Yamada in defence, but the system has been dynamic thanks to Aki Momii’s brilliant direction of plays.
On the Turkish side, apart from Karakurt and Erdem, Tugba Senoglu’s performances were consistent. The 23-year-old Mersin native made double-digit scoring efforts in all three matches in Week 3, while Meryem Boz’s 24-point output started their week with a 3-1 win against Thailand.
Turkey and Japan both lost a match in Week 3, but their five-set resiliency was also put to the test and they proved that they could overcome such challenges to stay in contention.
Brazil cleared their hurdles against two European teams in Week 3 – Serbia and Belgium – but dropped their third match of the week in the tiebreaker against China, who were aiming for a much-needed victory after losing to Belgium in five sets and Serbia in four.
The Brazilians had double-digit scoring performances from Tandara Caixeta, Gabi Guimaraes and Fe Garay in their first two outings. Even their efforts combined with those of Caroline Gattaz in their match with China, however, were not enough to overcome the offence-driven Zhang Changning, who made 36 markers after setting a personal record of 37 two days before that.
Brazil play Poland and Germany before they meet with Thailand in Week 4.
The Netherlands are on the upward trend with three victories in Week 3, getting the strongest resistance from Poland, who played their three matches in five sets.
The Dutch side relied on the scoring of Nika Daaelderop and captain Anne Buijs the entire week, and then on reinforcement from Eline Timmerman and Elles Dambrink who added 16 and 17 markers, respectively, in their triumph against Poland.
Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic, Russia and China are all seeking more victories and consistency in their game.
The Dominicans and Russians faced each other last week and the European side won the battle in five sets, as Nataliya Goncharova made it to the 30-point club with her 31 markers and the young Arina Fedorovtseva added 20 points to their comeback.
The Dominican Republic bounced back in their next two matches with a 3-1 upset over Turkey and a straight-set victory over Thailand, while Russia cleared their match with Thailand in four sets but fell short against Turkey in five.
Asian powerhouse China are waiting for the arrival of their superstar Zhu Ting and their other players, but Zhang Changning has put on a tremendous effort in scoring to carry her squad amidst the losses.
Her performance against 2019 VNL runners-up Brazil was commendable as she carried the team to victory.
