The second week of the men’s tournament of the 2023 Volleyball Nations League were loaded with spectacular performances, highlighted by Japan’s outstanding offense and the United States’ daredevil defense, each winning all four matches. Find out what ‘Whoa!’ moments made it to the list in Men’s Week 2.
VNL 2023
VNL moments that made us go, 'Whoa!': Men’s Week 2
Fantastic performances as Japan and USA go undefeated in Week 2
Published 06:47, 27 Jun 2023
The Big Name Game
Simone Giannelli, Daniele Lavia, Bartosz Kurek, Wilfredo Leon, Jean Patry, Jenia Grebennikov and Trevor Clevenot are some of the big names that adorned the lineups of Italy, Poland and France on the second week of competition. And we could not help but smile because we know that the action is going to be an incredible experience for every fan.
Jubilant Japan
They started with four wins in Week 1, including their four-set win over reigning VNL and Olympic champions France. They also won all matches in Week 2, except the degree of difficulty was harder in their last two hurdles against South American powerhouses Brazil and Argentina, as they cleared it in five sets.
Nevertheless, their stars stepped up to the challenge and delivered high-scoring performances. Their match against Brazil has all the drama, emotion and excitement a fan would expect from a great match, as well as sterling performances from both teams.
Japan took the first two sets, but Brazil retaliated with the next two set victories, forcing an epic down-to-the-wire battle in the fifth, where Ran Takahashi’s attack was blocked out to seal the victory for Japan at 18-16. Ran, Kento Miyaura and Yuki Ishikawa all scored more than 20 points in the victory. There’s no getting over it, so shout out loud and relive these moments of this epic Japanese win!
Ran's Scoring Rampage
After that match-clincher against Brazil, we thought Ran Takahashi would be tired, but the 21-year-old Kyoto native took it up a notch higher by scoring 32 points in Japan’s 3-2 win over Argentina. He made 29 attacks, two blocks and an ace, becoming the first player in the men’s VNL 2023 to score over 30 markers. His performance also marked Japan’s eighth straight victory. Now, that’s what VNL energy is all about!
USA’s Undefeated Run in Rotterdam
Team USA dominated by finishing off the second week with a straight-set win over three-time world champions Poland. Setter Micah Christenson not only directed his teammates on offense, but he also led the team on defense with four monster blocks.
When the (defense) clock strikes…
Canadian libero Landon Currie had a ‘Cinderella’ moment against Japan, as his shoe flew off during a defensive play. But come on, you have to give it to him because he immediately went for the next dig!
Be part of the energy of the 2023 VNL! Watch out for more ‘whoa’ moments each week on VBTV!
