Opposites Karol Butryn and Theo Faure put on a spectacular scoring race as their teams Poland and France battled it out on the court in Nagoya in their opening men’s Volleyball Nations League 2023 game. While Faure may have outscored Butryn, Poland proved stronger than the defending champions on the way to a victory on Wednesday.
VNL 2023
Butryn and Faure put on inspiring show as Poland down France
Scoring race between opposites results in 53 points combined
Published 11:50, 07 Jun 2023
Karol Butryn in attack
- Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 live on VBTV
Poland clearly outserved (eight aces against three) and outblocked (13 stuffs against seven) France, but also committed more unforced errors during the second match of the day on the Pool 2 programme in Japan. France’s 23-year-old opposite Theo Faure shined on the court, delivering the match high of 28 points. He produced two aces and three kill blocks, while spiking at a 62% success rate. Experienced outside hitter Kevin Tillie added another 12 points for France. On the winners’ side, Karol Butryn hammered four aces and raised one kill block towards a 25-point tally, while hitting at a 56% success rate. Outside Artur Szalpuk and middle blockers Mateusz Bieniek and Karol Klos also reached the double digits with 16, 12, and 11 points, respectively. Klos’s tally included an impressive five kill blocks, one of which brought in the match winner.
Theo Faure in attack
Faure was on fire throughout the first set of the match, piling up as many as nine points for France. It was not enough, however, for them to take control of the scoreboard for longer than a moment or two during the set. With Szalpuk leading the way in offence and their blocking making the difference, the Poles prevailed for a 25-23 close arriving on a one-man monster block by Butryn. Poland maintained a slight lead through the first half of the second set, but France erupted in the second half, breaking away by a large margin and eventually winning the set at 25-18 on a powerful pipe shot by Tillie for the last point.
Poland had a huge lead at 19-10 in the third set and seemed to be cruising comfortably towards taking the set. At that moment, however, France delivered a series of seven consecutive points on Faure’s serving turn and, shortly after, closed the gap at 20-20 to prompt a dramatic epilogue. A fierce battle unfolded to push the set deep into overtime. France failed to convert five set points, while Poland wasted another five of their own. On their sixth though, Kamil Semeniuk’s monster block finally ended the set at 35-33 Poland’s way. With the momentum on their side and Butryn shining both in attack and from the serving line, Poland completely dominated the fourth set. The opposite produced eight successful spikes and three aces in that set alone while the winning point at 25-15 came with an impenetrable double block by Klos and Szalpuk.
Poland celebrate
“We expected a tough game against France as always and we were ready for it,” commented Semeniuk after the match. “Obviously, we are so happy to win our first game of the tournament. There is always some nervousness around the first game, especially for the new guys on the national team, and I’m so proud that we won the game. To be honest, I didn’t play so well today, but for me the important thing was that we won the game and took the three points. My game was OK. Next game will be better...”
Poland’s second match in Nagoya will be against Iran on Thursday at 18:00 local time (09:00 UTC), while France will play on Friday against China at 13:10 (04:10).
Tine Urnaut against a three-man Serbian block
Earlier on Wednesday in Nagoya, Slovenia got off to a successful start in VNL 2023 with a victory over Serbia. Outside hitters Rok Mozic and captain Tine Urnaut spearheaded the Slovenians with 24 and 22 points, respectively, while middle Alen Pajenk excelled in blocking with four stuffs. Opposite and captain Drazen Luburic was Serbia’s most productive player with 21 points to his name.
The competition day continues with two Pool 1 matches in Ottawa. The United States will take on the Netherlands at 16:30 local time (20:30 UTC) and Brazil will meet Germany at 20:00 (00:00).
June 6 Results & June 7 Schedule.
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) June 7, 2023
📺 Watch the #VNL2023 matches LIVE & on demand on https://t.co/2M11bieowq.
⏰ Full schedule: https://t.co/ln0YP9qah7
🏐 #volleyball #VNL pic.twitter.com/sh0ajMKKKM
