USA beat France in epic duel

USA came out on the winning end of yet another five-set battle that the last day of the women’s Volleyball Nations League competition week has offered so far. The Americans celebrated a tight victory over France in Belgrade to not only surpass them in the current VNL standings, but also climb above the cut-off for the Finals, to eighth place on a 4-4 win-loss record and 11 points. France remained in 11^th place on 3-5 and 10. Earlier, in Istanbul, the Dominican Republic also claimed a thrilling five-set win over Korea and climbed to 10^th place on 4-4 and 9, while Korea are still under an imminent threat of relegation as they stand just above the danger zone, in 17^th place on 1-7 and 4.

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France stayed in control for the most part of the first two sets, but USA managed to turn things around in both and took a two-set lead in the match. The Europeans stormed the second set on an 8-0 run to start their comeback. They also turned the fourth set around with another 8-0 run and leveled the score. In a tightly-contested tie-breaker, after 13-13, USA’s outside hitter Sarah Franklin brought in the resolution with two successful spikes in row for a 3-2 (25-22, 26-24, 20-25, 21-25, 15-13) win.

Franklin finished with 18 points, all in attack, while her cross-court teammate Logan Eggleston spiked another 17 at a 61% success rate. Middle blocker Dana Rettke chipped in with 10 points, including three kill blocks and an ace, while opposite Madisen Skinner led the American team with 21 points (one ace, one block).

France’s outside and captain Helena Cazaute and opposite Iman Ndiaye shared the top scorer honors of the match with 28 points each. Outside Sabine Haewegene and middle Amandha Sylves added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Meanwhile in Istanbul, Korea and the Dominican Republic pushed their battle to the overtime of a fifth set before the Caribbean Queens could squeeze out a 3-2 (19-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-20, 16-14) victory. Twice during the match, the Dominicans came back from a set down, but in the thrilling money time of the tie-breaker, they allowed Korea to deny them the triple match point they had at 14-11. Still, with middle blocker Geraldine Sthefany Gonzalez bringing in another match point, the Dominican Republic capitalized on an unforced attack error by the opponents to convert it to a 16-14 victory.

In addition to the unforced opponent errors, Dominican Republic’s blocking effort made the difference in the match as it brought the team twice as many kill blocks as Korea’s, 16 against eight. Gonzalez produced a fantastic seven of them to finish with a total of 12 points. Outside hitter Brayelin Martinez, the best scorer of the match, and opposite Gaila Gonzalez raised four kill blocks each to tally 24 and 22 points, respectively. The other outside, Yonkaira Pena, delivered 17 points, all in offense.

Korea did better than the opponents in attack (63-60 in spike kills) and especially in serving (9-4 in aces). Outside hitters Seoyoung Yuk, with two aces and kill blocks to her name, and captain Sohwi Kang led their team with 20 points apiece. 22-year-old opposite Seonwoo Lee added 16, while middle blocker Hoyoung Jung finished with 10 points, including three kill blocks.

The last day of the women’s VNL competition week continue with Turkiye and Brazil battling in the day’s highlight in Istanbul. Serbia take on Poland in the last fixture scheduled in Belgrade.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

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