Poland vs. Germany, USA vs. Japan open VNL Finals

The first two semifinalists of the Volleyball Nations League 2023 will be known on Wednesday, when the eight best women’s national teams in the Preliminary Phase begin the battle for the title of the fifth edition of the tournament in Arlington, the United States.

The opening day of the event in Texas will feature the first two quarterfinal duels, with Poland facing Germany at 16:00 local time (21:00 UTC) and hosts the United States playing Japan later at 19:30 local time (00:30 UTC, Thursday).

• Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 Finals live on VBTV

The quarterfinals continue on Thursday, with Brazil playing China at 10:30 local time (15:30 UTC) and Türkiye battling Italy at 14:00 local time (19:00 UTC). The semifinals will be held on Saturday, with the medal matches ending the event on Sunday.

The winners of the Poland-Germany quarterfinal will face Brazilians or Chinese, with the team that prevails in the duel between USA and Japan playing against Türkiye or Italy.

The best team in the regular season with ten wins in 12 matches, Poland are making their second appearance in the Finals after finishing fifth in 2019 and need just one more win to secure their best campaign in the tournament.

Currently in seventh place in the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Rankings, the Polish didn’t have star setter Joanna Wolosz in their campaign and will also be without their captain in the Finals. The team coached by Stefano Lavarini had in opposite Magdalena Stysiak and middle blocker Agnieszka Korneluk some of their individual standouts in the VNL so far.

"We're entering the Finals with good energy," Stysiak commented. "We know the match against Germany won't be easy, but we want to play well and win it. We have a specific goal coming here and we'll do everything to win this match and every next one. The Preliminary Phase showed we can defeat anyone and we'll fight hard to do it here in Arlington."

Germany secured the last spot in the Finals with a campaign of seven victories and will for the first time compete for the VNL title. The team, however, had some difficulties in the second half of the Preliminary Phase, winning just two of their last six matches and ending it in a three-match losing streak.

Outside hitter Hannah Orthmann will be a key player for the Germans against the Polish as she has the ability to carry the team’s offense while setter Pia Kästner and libero Anna Pogany will also have big roles in the encounter.

"Poland are clearly above us, but they respect us a lot and we want to take advantage of that," said coach Vital Heynen. "We played very well in the Preliminary Phase and got better every week. The players believe in the team and that makes us strong."

Four of the last five matches involving Polish and Germans went to five sets, with Poland winning the last three, including the one in the Preliminary Phase of the VNL 2023.

Volleyball Nations League 2023: full schedule and results

The second-best team in the Preliminary Phase, hosts USA will count on the support of their home fans against Japan. The reigning Olympic champions won ten out of their 12 matches and ended their journey with four victories in the last five matches.

Head coach Karch Kiraly has rotated the squad during the Preliminary Phase and found new, young options to join the team’s Olympic champion core, such as outside hitter Avery Skinner, libero Morgan Hentz and middle blocker Asjia O’Neal. He could also have the return of the legendary Jordan Larson, who came back to the national team for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics and didn’t play in the Preliminary Phase.

Japan was seventh in the Preliminary Phase with a campaign of seven victories. The Asians started strong, with three victories at home in Nagoya, but dropped some positions with two losses in the last three matches in Bangkok.

The strong connection between outside hitter Sarina Koga and setter Nanami Seki worked very well so far and will need to continue this way against the Americans.

Japan had arguably their biggest victory in the Preliminary Phase against the Americans, taking the Olympic champions down in the tie-breaker in the second week. USA, however, have the edge in the last five encounters, having won three of them.

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