VNL 2025

Herbots on fire against Canada, brings Belgium back from beyond!

Netherlands down Germany in another five-setter

Published 01:26, 22 Jun 2025

Belgium (BEL) vs. Canada (CAN) women - Pool 4 - Preliminary Phase #47930778

Britt Herbots and her Belgian teammates came back from 9-13 in the tiebreak

In a thrilling rollercoaster, Belgium celebrated a five-set victory over Canada as the women’s Volleyball Nations League competition day in Istanbul got underway on Sunday. It was their second win in a row and they climbed to 13^th place in the current VNL standings on a 3-5 win-loss record and 9 points, leaving the Canadians behind in 15^th on 2-6 and 6. In another exciting five-setter in Belgrade, the Netherlands outlasted Germany to end the week on a high note after the three losses suffered. The Dutch improved to 3-5 and 10 all the way up in ninth place, while the Germans are seventh on 4-4 and 14.

Watch the Volleyball Nations League on VBTV

Belgium managed to come back from a set down twice during their game with Canada. Even in the tie-breaker, they were 13-9 down, but mounted a furious return with five points in a row to reach first match point. The last three points of that run – one ace and two back-row kills – came courtesy of Britt Herbots. Canada denied that match point, but wasted two of their own, before Belgium rose again with three points in a row to close this epic match at 3-2 (22-25, 25-13, 21-25, 25-22, 18-16).

#VNL2025 Belgium does it in THRILLING fashion! 🇧🇪🔥

Down to the wire in the tie-break, they edge out Canada 18–16 — and guess who led the charge?

Britt Herbots with a monster 31-point performance.

Heart-stopping. Pure #volleyball drama. 💥🏐 #BePartOfTheGame pic.twitter.com/OxlKDY3oiM
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) June 22, 2025

Belgium’s star outside hitter and captain piled up a fantastic 31 points to top the match scorers chart. She produced two aces, two kill blocks and 27 kills in attack, supported by 22-year-old opposite Pauline Martin with 17 points, including three blocks. Middle blocker Nathalie Lemmens delivered two stuffs, an ace and seven spike points at a 58% success rate to reach the double digits with 10 points.

“I saw it in the eyes of my team that nobody wanted to give up and I think that’s the most important part of this game. Everybody kept fighting, maybe a little bit too late, but this is how Belgium plays and how we want to show why we are in this VNL. It was amazing, it was great, and I’m super proud of my team right now,” Herbots told VBTV. “I won’t be there next week, but I already told my teammates this was the spirit they have to play with. This is the way the Tigers play and they just have to keep fighting. There is no opponent that’s too strong, so just have fun and enjoy the opportunity to play.”

Canada’s strong showing in this match was supported with as many as 17 kill blocks, against 10 from the Belgians. Five of those were put away by outside hitter Hilary Howe Johnson, who led the team’s scorers with a total of 21 points. 21-year-old opposite Anna Smrek garnished her tally with another four blocks and two aces to finish with a total of 19 points. Outside Andrea Mitrovic and middle Emily Maglio added 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Over in Belgrade, Germany also came back from a set down twice in their game against the Netherlands, but the Dutch kept pushing until a serving ace by 21-year-old middle blocker Marije Ten Brinke stopped the clocks at 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-10).

Right on her 22nd birthday, opposite Elles Dambrink spearheaded the Netherlands with a match-high 23 points, all in swings. Outside hitter and captain Nika Daalderop put up three kill blocks and fired two aces to finish with 19 points. 22-year-old middle Britte Stuut also served a couple of aces towards an 11-point total.

Opposite Lena Kindermann led Germany with 18 points in attack. Outside Lina Alsmeier put away 17. So did middle blocker and captain Camilla Weitzel, while her cross-court teammate Marie Scholzel scored 16 times. The middle blockers’ tallies included three stuffs each and three aces combined.

The last day of the women’s VNL competition week is currently continuing with the last match in Hong Kong, between hosts China and defending champions Italy, and the second game in Istanbul between Korea and the Dominican Republic. Then, Turkiye and Brazil will lock horns in the day’s highlight in Istanbul, serving off at 19:30 local time (16:30 UTC). France v USA and Serbia v Poland are the remaining fixtures scheduled in Belgrade.