The 2023 Volleyball Nations League men’s preliminary round came to an end but not without excitement and a lot of competitive spirit to get you ready for the Finals in Gdansk, Poland. Here are men's Week 3's 'whoa' moments.
VNL 2023
VNL moments that made us go, 'Whoa!': Men’s Week 3
Bartosz Kurek’s big surprise; the VNL’s longest set plus the week’s excellent plays
Published 02:32, 12 Jul 2023
Sky is the limit for those who dream big
This statement holds true for Pau Ibanez, who received the biggest surprise of her life, meeting Poland captain Bartosz Kurek.
Pau is a big fan of Poland and on the first day of the VNL in Pasay City, she showed up wearing an eye-catching antlered headband with Kurek’s face. The captain took notice and posted on his Instagram story that he needs one, so Volleyball World obliged to grant this request. Pau agreed to make one for the Polish captain and brought it to the Mall of Asia Arena when Poland played Japan.
Hi Volleyballworld. I would gladly give him another set of my headband!! Can you make it possible? Haha (PS I am that girl on the photo haha)
— cherpau 🌻 | poland vnl 2023 (@cherpauibnz) July 5, 2023
During warm-up, Pau thought she was just being interviewed by the Volleyball World video crew, but Kurek slowly approached her and said hello. She was stunned and was brought to tears by the humble gesture of the Poland captain.
We hope we made you happy, Pau! And thank you Bartosz for making this dream a reality!
Aside from Pau, there were many other Filipino fans who met their favourite players. One of them is Slovenia’s super fan who waited at the airport to welcome the team. Her efforts did not go unnoticed, and the team also gave her a surprise.
Endure…
Argentina and the United States’ full-set match felt like it was played with an extra set! The South American team won the opening set, but USA won the next two set. The fourth set was a 50-minute-long marathon that the Olympic bronze medallists won to force the tiebreaker, where they also succeeded with a slim margin. What a match and what a win by Argentina!
Loser’s Gandalf moment
Agustin Loser to USA hitters: You shall not pass!
If there’s anything that we know about the Argentina middle blocker, it’s his ability to defend the net well. Loser had eight blocks in the team’s five-set win over the United States at Anaheim on July 8.
Quick thinking
It’s hard not to credit Slovenia for the excellent game they played against Poland. They did not win, but they forced Poland to play the fifth set and win just by a two-point margin.
In the first set, Slovenia captain Tine Urnaut displayed excellent reaction to a bad pass, going under the net and returning the ball to set up Rok Mozic for the attack.
Practice makes perfect
First, watch this reel of Tomohiro Ogawa doing a pepper drill with Ran Takahashi and Tomohiro Yamamoto.
Next, watch Tomo Ogawa put that skill into good use in the match.
Be part of the energy of the 2023 VNL! Watch out for more ‘whoa’ moments each week on VBTV!
