Important news came out of each of the three matches played in Anaheim on the last competition day of the Volleyball Nations League 2023 Preliminary Phase. France beat Germany to claim the last ticket to the Finals in Gdansk from July 19 through 23. Hosts USA defeated Bulgaria for a last-minute takeover of the first place in the final Preliminary Phase standings, and rookies Cuba overcame Iran to survive in the VNL for the 2024 season, leaving bottom-placed China to defend their spot in the League at this month’s Volleyball Challenger Cup.
VNL 2023
France hop on last train to Gdansk
USA top final Preliminary Phase standings; Cuba survive in VNL
Published 06:10, 10 Jul 2023
Trevor Clevenot celebrates France’s success
- Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 live on VBTV
NEXT STOP: MEN’S #VNLFinals 🤯!
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) July 10, 2023
🗓️ Dates: July 19-23
📍 Location: Gdansk, Poland 🇵🇱
📺 Matches will be streamed on https://t.co/Rb6x7u4TwH.
🏐 #VNL #VNL2023 #volleyball pic.twitter.com/fxNaA4UyWY
Reigning Olympic and defending VNL champions France lost the first set of their game against Germany on Sunday, but quickly recovered to win the next three on the way to a 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-21) victory, which was enough to surpass Serbia into the eighth place of the table, just above the cut-off line for the Finals, on a 6-6 win-loss record and 18 points, two points clear of the southern Europeans, who will not be travelling to Gdansk. The Germans finished 11th on 3-9 and 10.
Outside hitter Trevor Clevenot led France with 17 points, followed by middle blocker Barthelemy Chinenyeze and opposite Stephen Boyer with 13 apiece. Each of these three players had an ace and a kill block in their tally. German opposite Linus Weber was the best scorer of the match on 18 points, including one of the team’s six aces. Middle Anton Brehme hammered another three aces towards a 14-point tally.
“We didn’t start the game well. We had some trouble in the break points as they were spiking really well. But then we fixed our blocks for the opposite and for the middles,” said France’s setter and captain Benjamin Toniutti after the match. “It was a tough game. We knew we had to win this game to go to Gdansk and we are happy to be going to the final eight. There are a lot of good teams in volleyball and anyone can win the title in Gdansk.”
France celebrate their advancement to the Finals
Cuba just needed to win a set in their last match against Iran on Sunday in order to avoid relegation. Instead, they won three to celebrate a hard-fought five-set 3-2 (25-22, 26-28, 25-23, 28-30, 15-20) victory, which propelled them to the 13th place in the final ranking on a 3-9 win-loss record and eight points, leaving the Iranians behind, in 14th on 2-10 and 11. That also meant that China finished bottom of the table and will have to win the 2023 Volleyball Challenger Cup at the end of this month, if they want to compete in the VNL again next year.
The Cubans managed to offset the abundant unforced errors by outplaying the opponents in all the scoring elements, but especially in attack and serving. Opposite Jesus Herrera produced a match-high 28 points, including two aces and a block, followed by outside Miguel Lopez with 27, including three aces and two blocks. They registered a 69% and a 67% success rates in offence, respectively. Iran’s most productive player Bardia Saadat finished with 17 points, including three blocks.
Cuba’s Marlon Yant kisses the ball
In the very last match of the Preliminary Phase, Pool 5 hosts USA downed Bulgaria in straight sets, 3-0 (29-27, 25-19, 25-21), and took advantage of Japan’s losses in their last two games to emerge on top of the standings on a 10-2 win-loss record and 31 points, four points clear of the Asians. Bulgaria finished 15th on 2-10 and eight, two points clear of bottom-ranked China.
The North Americans outscored the southern Europeans in all the elements, except for the unforced errors. Outside hitter Garrett Muagututia led the scorers with 14 points. His cross-court teammate Thomas Jaeschke added another 12, while none of the Bulgarians reached the double digits in the match.
“It’s been a long time and the guys are so helpful,” said USA’s Mica Ma’a, the team’s setter for the match. “When you are out there and you feel a little nervous, they give you a lot of confidence. We’ve got a great group of guys and I would just give all the credit to them. We’ve got really good leaders, guys with experience who have been here before. They give the young guys lots of confidence, they carry a lot of the load and they are running the show a lot of the time. We are just trying to be good followers...”
Garrett Muagututia spikes above the Bulgarian block
