The Americans rebounded from a first-set loss to get to their fourth win in five VNL matches
Published 05:27, 20 Jun 2023
Christenson made the most of each of his hitters to facilitate another American triumph
The United States started the second week of action in Volleyball Nations League 2023 on the right foot as the Americans overcame a difficult start to beat Serbia on Tuesday, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The second match of the day in Pool 3 had the Europeans up to a promising start, but the Americans came back to control the match and walk away with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-21) victory.
The fourth victory in five VNL 2023 matches pushed the Americans to second place in the standings (12 points), only behind undefeated leaders Japan. Serbia have dropped to ninth place (two wins, six points), falling outside of the qualification zone for the VNL Finals.
The diversity of the American offense led by setter Micah Christenson, which had four players scoring in double digits, was one of the keys to their victory as it complicated the Serbian defensive strategy.
Outside hitter Torey Defalco was the most productive American player, leaving the court with 17 points (14 kills, two aces, one block). Right next to him were veteran opposite Matt Anderson, who tallied 16 (ten kills, two aces, four blocks), and outside hitter Aaron Russell, who added another 15 (13 kills, two aces).
“They are all beasts, they are all incredible attackers,” Christenson said about his hitters. “There is no wrong decision on this team because they can all put the ball away with one, two, or three blocks up. I think we executed really well, even in the first set. We’ve got to give Serbia a lot of credit for that first set. They did a great job in transition.”
Russell makes a diving dig against the Serbians
The two USA middles were also heavily involved in the team’s comeback, with Jeffrey Jendryk getting ten points (all in kills) and David Smith adding another nine, with a match-high six blocks.
Despite the defeat, the Serbians had in opposite Drazen Luburic the top scorer of the encounter, with 19 points (16 kills, three aces). Also reaching double digits in scoring was middle blocker Petar Krsmanovic, who produced 11 points (eight kills, one ace, two blocks).
The Americans dominated the match in three statistical categories, outscoring the Serbians in kills (50 to 45), blocks (11 to four) and opponent errors (30 to 29) – each side registered six aces.
**Volleyball Nations League 2023: full schedule and results**
Earlier on Tuesday, Iran scored their second positive result in the VNL 2023 and moved up to eighth place. The Asians were dominant against Germany, controlling the 14th-placed Europeans to secure a 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-16) victory.
Powerful opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad led the Iranian successful performance with 16 points, followed by outside hitter Morteza Sharifi, who tallied 11. Outside hitter and team captain Moritz Reichert scored 11 points for Germany.
The second day of the VNL 2023 in Rotterdam will feature three matches, with Iran and Italy meeting at 13:00 local time (11:00 UTC), the United States and China battling at 16:30 local time (14:30 UTC) and Germany and Poland clashing in the last duel of the day, at 20:00 local time (18:00 UTC), on Wednesday.
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