In front of packed stands in Orleans, Brazil disappointed the home fans with a four-set victory over France. In an exciting Volleyball Nations League 2023 Pool 3 game on Sunday, opposite Alan Souza led the South Americans to a 3-1 (24-20, 26-24, 19-25, 25-23) win. After the end of the second competition week, Brazil are third in the current standings on a 6-2 win-loss record and 19 points, below table leaders Japan (8-0 and 22) and second-placed USA (7-1 and 21). Reigning Olympic and VNL champions France are still below the cut-off for the Finals, in 10th place on 3-5 and nine.
VNL 2023
Alan fires up Brazil for big win over France
The South Americans are now third in the standings; the defending champs still below the cut-off for the Finals
Published 06:16, 25 Jun 2023
Alan in attack
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Alan Souza contributed 24 points to his team’s success. He added a kill block to the 23 spiking points he registered at a 59% success rate. Outside hitter Ricardo Lucarelli also played a key role in the match. He aced three times towards a 15-point tally. Opposite Stephen Boyer led France’s scorers with 17 points.
Spearheaded by Alan in attack, Brazil established clear superiority on the court during the first set and stayed in control of the scoreboard from the beginning to the end. Felipe Roque’s successful swing brought in set point at 24-20 and it was immediately converted by a French mistake in offence for 25-20. Inspired by the crowd on the stands, France showed improved effort in the second set and put up an even battle. They denied Brazil’s first set point to push it to overtime, but on the second, Alan elegantly tipped the overpass with two hands to close it off at 26-24.
Two aces in a row by setter Antoine Brizard at the beginning of the third set encouraged the home team to take charge on the court and quickly break away, stepping up their offence, especially with the middles, and dominating throughout. Boyer led the French spikers and crowned his efforts with the team’s last two points of the set. To close it off, he cleverly pushed the ball between the blocking hands of Ricardo Lucarelli for 25-19. It was Lucarelli who started the fourth set with a perfectly placed ace, but France recovered quickly to take the lead and keep it for a while. After 17-17, however, the South Americans sat in the driver’s seat and even broke away with a three-point advantage, but once again, the Europeans fought back to draw level in the nerve-wracking epilogue. After 23-23, a monster block by Flavio Gualberto was followed by a successful back-row swing from Alan to close the set and the match at 25-23.
Brazilian libero Maique Reis Nascimento in action
“It’s always, always, always hard to play against France, especially in such an amazing atmosphere. We know how powerful this extra energy can be,” said Lucarelli after the game. “And it was beautiful! We are really tired and it’s a good signal that we gave everything inside the court. The most important thing was we took the win. We needed that win for the rankings and for qualification to the Finals in Poland. We need to rest and be ready to play well in the Philippines, but now we are going to celebrate this victory. I think we deserve it.”
On July 4, Brazil will get the third competition week underway with a Pool 6 game against reigning world and European champions Italy in Pasay City, Philippines, at 15:00 local time (07:00 UTC). France will travel to Anaheim, USA for their matches in Pool 5. Their first opponent in the third week will be Iran, also on July 4, at 16:30 local time (21:30 UTC).
A huge battle between two challenger teams fighting for survival unfolded in Orleans earlier on Sunday to be resolved only in the overtime of a fifth-set tie-breaker. Cuba edged Bulgaria by 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 25-20, 16-25, 18-16) to register the second win of their rookie VNL season and rise to 12th in the standings on a 2-6 win-loss record and five points. Bulgaria have six points, but on a 1-7 win-loss record, they now stand 15th under a serious threat of relegation. Opposite Jesus Herrera delivered the match high of 27 points, including six aces for Cuba, while outside Aleksandar Nikolov was Bulgaria’s most productive player with 23 points. His teammate in the middle, Aleks Grozdanov, impressed with six kill blocks.
Jesus Herrera on the block against Aleksandar Nikolov
