Hot Pasay City about to get hotter with VNL’s decisive week three!

As many as six of the top eight teams in the current men’s Volleyball Nations League 2023 standings will get together in Pasay City to compete in the deciding Pool 6 battles for the tickets to the Finals in Gdansk as the third competition week of the Preliminary Phase takes place from Tuesday, July 4, through Sunday, July 9.

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A huge clash between Brazil and Italy will get the action started in the Philippines on Tuesday at 15:00 local time (07:00 UTC). The 2021 VNL champions arrive in Pasay City as the third-placed team in the table on a 6-2 win-loss record and 19 points and led by the tournament’s best setter so far, Bruno Rezende. The South Americans will have one change to the squad from week two, with outside Gabriel Vaccari replacing Arthur Bento, who will join the junior national team for the upcoming FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship in Bahrain. After their start against Italy, the Brazilians will also take on the Netherlands on Thursday, Poland on Friday and China on Saturday.

“The expectation is that the group will continue to grow,” said Vaccari. “It was really cool to see everyone united and the energy of the team. I'm here to add and do my best for the team to grow even more. I'm full of desire and I want to help keep motivated.”

Italy’s head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi, on the other hand, has made as many as six changes to his squad with Alessandro Piccinelli, Fabio Balaso, Giovanni Sanguinetti, Leandro Mosca, Lorenzo Sala and Mattia Bottolo joining the team for the four matches in the Philippines. The reigning world champions are currently seventh on 5-3 and 15 and will have to work for it, if they want to advance to the Finals. They will also meet Canada on Thursday, Slovenia on Friday and Japan on Saturday.

Tuesday’s second match in Pasay City will spark excitement with an all-Asian classic between Japan and China, at 19:00 local time (11:00 UTC). After two weeks of action, Japan are still unbeaten and lead the current standings on 8-0 and 22. VNL’s best receiver and second best scorer Yuki Ishikawa, third best scorer Ran Takahashi and their teammates need just one more win, or at least two more points to secure their spot among the quarterfinalists. After China, the Japanese team will face the Netherlands on Friday, Italy on Saturday and Poland on Sunday.

China arrive in the Philippines with one change to their 14-men squad. Middle blocker Rao Shuhan replaces opposite Zhang Guanhua. China have won two of eight matches played so far and stand 14^th on five points. They still have a shot at the Finals, but as one of the challenger teams, they also have to fight for avoiding relegation. The only challenger team below them in the table is Bulgaria, who have only one win, but six points, and present a real danger for the Asians. China will also look for wins and points in their games against Slovenia on Thursday, Brazil on Saturday and Canada on Sunday.

Another challenger team under the threat of relegation, 13^th-placed Canada (also on 2-6 and 5), will open Wednesday’s competition day with a game against the Netherlands, starting at 15:00 local time (07:00 UTC). The North Americans will go up against Italy on Thursday, Poland on Saturday and China on Sunday. The Dutch are right above the cut-off line for the Finals, in eighth place on 4-4 and 14, three points clear of ninth-placed Serbia, and with a good shot at making it among the quarterfinalists, especially with Nimir Abdel-Aziz, the VNL’s best scorer, best attacker and best server so far, in the line-up. However, the Netherlands’ schedule in Pasay City includes tough challenges against Brazil on Thursday, Japan on Friday and Slovenia on Sunday.

Fourth-placed Slovenia (18 points) and fifth-placed Poland (14 points), on a 6-2 win-loss record each, will be the last to join the action in Pasay City on Wednesday evening at 19:00 local time (11:00 UTC). As hosts of the Finals, Poland have a guaranteed berth among the quarterfinalists. They will try to prepare for the home tournament in the best possible way, on the court in the Philippines, while playing against other strong teams like Brazil on Friday, Canada on Saturday and Japan on Sunday. Meanwhile, Slovenia will continue with tough matches against China on Thursday, Italy on Friday and the Netherlands on Sunday, hoping to confirm their place among the top eight in the VNL again.

“We expect that everyone will come to the Philippines optimally prepared and, just like us, will try to secure the last points for advancement to the final tournament,” said Slovenian striker Klemen Cebulj. “The most important thing in the matches will be to play them with the highest possible degree of concentration.”

The other eight teams in VNL 2023 will complete their Preliminary Phase campaigns in Anaheim, USA, where the 16 Pool 5 matches will be played from Tuesday through Sunday.

The VNL Preliminary Phase features three competition weeks per gender, with each of the 16 teams playing a total of 12 matches. The eight best-ranked national teams in the Preliminary Phase will qualify for the Finals in Gdansk, Poland from July 19 through 23, with the host country already with a guaranteed spot.

Volleyball Nations League 2023: full schedule and results

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