Upset after seven consecutive victories, the Americans would have booked their spot in the Finals with another positive result
Published 09:01, 09 Jul 2026
Stysiak spikes past a pair of American blockers
Poland denied Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2026 leaders the United States their first opportunity to qualify for the Finals when the teams met on Thursday, ending their opponents' seven-match winning streak in the tournament.
Europeans and North Americans clashed in the first match of the second day of action in the third week of the Preliminary Phase in Osaka, and the Poles showed strength to recover from back-to-back losses and beat the Americans 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 15-12).
USA vs. Poland - Highlights | Women's VNL 2026
The top-ranked team in the VNL 2026 standings with eight wins and 24 points, the USA needed a win against the Poles to confirm their presence in the VNL Finals - they now need an extra point to do it. The victory helped Poland in their race to qualify, as they now have seven wins and 19 points, continuing in fifth place.
Magdalena Stysiak and Julita Piasecka were instrumental in the Polish victory, combining to produce 59 points in the match - the star opposite led the team with a whopping 34 (28 kills, five blocks, one ace), while the up-and-coming outside hitter added another 25 (24 kills, one ace).
The stellar performance took Stysiak's VNL career points up to 1,306, making of her the third-highest-scoring player in the event, only behind Belgium's Britt Herbots and Türkiye's Ebrar Karakurt, who have 1,328 each.
"I am very happy and proud of the team," she said. "We made some changes in our team this year, and it hasn't been an easy start. Today we played an amazing team, and it was great to win, because we need points to qualify for the Finals. We need to keep taking it one game at a time, and I hope we can keep getting better in each one of them."
The American offense was more spread out and had five of their players getting to double digits in scoring - outside hitters Simone Lee (15) and Logan Eggleston (14), middle blockers Molly McCage (14) and Asjia O'Neal (13) and opposite Stephanie Samedy (14).
A few hours later, Japan prevailed over Thailand in the Asian Derby, triumphing 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22), and returned to winning ways after three consecutive defeats. Helped by 22 points (18 kills, four blocks) scored by captain Mayu Ishikawa and another 20 (18 kills, two blocks) added by opposite Yukiko Wada, the Japanese now have seven wins and 19 points, appearing in sixth place. Fighting to avoid relegation, Thailand rank 14th with two wins and nine points.
Another two matches will be held in Osaka on Friday - the United States face Türkiye at 13:00 local time (4:00 GMT) and Poland play Brazil at 19:20 (10:20 GMT).
In Belgrade, France produced the most spectacular victory of the day, coming back from a two-set deficit to overcome hosts Serbia 3-2 (20-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-13) and leave the bottom of the standings, moving to 16th place with two wins and six points - the Serbians rank 13th with three wins and 14 points.
Lilou Ratahiry and Iman Ndiaye were huge in the French comeback, with the outside hitter leading their offense with 24 points (19 kills, four blocks, one ace) and the opposite contributing another 23 (18 kills, three aces, two blocks).
In the first match of the day, the Netherlands kept themselves very much alive in the race for a spot in the Finals by beating fellow hopefuls Czechia 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-18) and securing their third-straight victory. Outside hitters Laura Jansen and Helena Kok helped the Dutch get to six wins and 18 points, ranking eighth in the standings, by delivering 13 points each. The Czechs, who also entered the week looking to qualify, are now eliminated, appearing in 11th place with four wins and 11 points.
Belgium and Czechia will open Friday's match schedule in Belgrade, meeting at 16:30 local time (14:30 GMT), with Germany and the Netherlands clashing later, at 20:00 (18:00 GMT).
In Hong Kong, Canada took another big step to qualify for the Finals, beating Belgium 3-1 (10-25, 25-21, 25-17, 27-25) to earn their third straight victory and move up to fourth place in the standings with seven wins and 20 points. Opposite Kiera Van Ryk topped all scorers with 22 points (17 kills, four blocks, one ace), two more than her Belgian counterpart Pauline Martin. The Europeans are 12th, with four wins and ten points.
The other match of the day had hosts China delivering a strong performance to sweep VNL rookies Ukraine 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-20) - outside hitter Zhuang Yushan, with 18 points (15 kills, three blocks), and middle blocker Wang Yuanyuan, with 16 (ten kills, six blocks), were their standouts. Guaranteed in the Finals as the host country, China rank ninth in the VNL 2026 with six wins and 18 points. Ukraine are still threatened by relegation, appearing in 15th place with two wins and six points.
Friday, the third day of action in Hong Kong, will have Ukraine facing the Dominican Republic in a key match to determine relegation at 17:00 local time (9:00 GMT) and Belgium playing defending champions Italy at 20:30 (12:30 GMT).
SUBSCRIBE
TO OUR
NEWSLETTER
Newsletter subscribed successfully!
We respect your privacy. View our Privacy policy
