Tag: VNL

LAUSANE, Switzerland, February 16, 2023-The women’s national teams of Germany and the Netherlands will get the fifth season of the Volleyball Nations League underway on May 30. The two European teams will meet in a Pool 2 match in Nagoya, Japan, starting at 16:10 local time (07:10 UTC) to begin the race towards the Finals. 

The VNL 2023 match schedule is now available, and you can find out when your favorite teams will play. During the Preliminary Phase, each team will play a total of 12 games over three competition weeks. The top seven teams will then join the host teams, the United States for women and Poland for men, at the Finals. 

Volleyball Nations League 2023: full schedule 

The week one women’s pool in Nagoya will also feature an exciting Asian Classic between hosts Japan and China, which will take place on June 4 at 19:10 (10:10). The pool also includes Bulgaria, Croatia, the Dominican Republic and three-time VNL silver medalists Brazil. 

On the same dates, the national teams of Canada, Italy, Korea, Poland, Serbia, Thailand, the United States and hosts Türkiye will start their campaigns in Pool 1 in Antalya. 

During the second competition week, from June 13 through 18, the women’s teams will be split between Pool 3 in Hong Kong and Pool 4 in Brasilia. The pool in Asia will culminate with hosts China taking on defending VNL champions Italy in the last match on the program, at 20:30 (12:30) on June 18. The fans in the Brazilian capital will be able to see their home favorites play against reigning world champions Serbia on June 15 at 21:00 local time (00:00 UTC on June 16) and against reigning Olympic champions USA on June 18 at 10:00 (13:00). 

In the last week of the women’s Preliminary Phase, the two pools will take place in Asia, in Korea and Thailand. Two-time VNL bronze medalists China will play some big matches in Suwon, while the charismatic Thai team that made headlines by upsetting a number of strong opponents in 2022 will entertain their faithful fans in Bangkok with games against the Netherlands on June 27, against four-time semifinalists and two-time medalists Türkiye on June 29, against Asian rivals Japan on July 1, and against mighty Brazil on July 2, always starting at 20:30 local time (13:30). Last year’s finalists Italy and Brazil will meet on June 28, also at 20:30 (13:30) in Bangkok. 

The women’s Finals in Arlington, Texas will start on July 12 with the first two quarterfinals. The gold medal match is scheduled at 17:30 (22:30) on July 16. 

The men’s VNL will also begin in Nagoya, but exactly a week after the women’s first pools, on June 6 at 16:10 local time (07:10 UTC). China will take on Bulgaria, before hosts Japan play Asian powerhouse Iran. In what is likely to be the most anticipated match that week in Nagoya, defending VNL titleholders France will meet three-time medalists Poland on June 7 at 18:00 (09:00). 

Ottawa will also see plenty of VNL action during the first week of men’s competition. Hosts Canada will open their campaign against rookies Cuba on June 6 at 20:00 local time (00:00 UTC on June 7). The North American duel with their neighbors from the United States is scheduled on June 10 at the same time. Three-time medalists USA will also engage in top-level battles with Italy on June 8 and with Brazil on June 11. 

The second week of men’s competition will be held from June 20 through 25 and will be played in Europe. The Dutch city of Rotterdam will host the first remake of last year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship final between Italy and Poland on June 25 at 12:30 (10:30). Four and a half hours later, the fans in Orleans will get to cheer on Olympic champs France as they finish their home campaign with a game against Brazil. 

The last week of Preliminary Phase action will open with another big game, between Italy and Brazil, who will lock horns in Pasay City in the Philippines on July 4 at 11:00 (03:00), followed by an all-Asian battle between Japan and China. Poland and Brazil will meet three days later, at 11:00 (03:00). 

Meanwhile, Pool 5 competition in Anaheim will be highlighted by a number of unpredictable matches, with a particularly exciting day coming up on July 8, when the program begins with a clash between Balkan neighbors Bulgaria and Serbia at 13:30 (20:30), continues with a duel between Olympic bronze medalists Argentina and Asian champions Iran at 17:00 (00:00 UTC on July 9), and reaches a climax with hosts USA battling against France at 20:30 (03:30 UTC on July 9).  The Finals showdown in the northern Polish city of Gdansk will start with the first two quarterfinals on July 19 and end with the trophy game on July 23 at 20:30 (18:30).

Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 on VBTV

SEOUL, Korea, July 31, 2022 – Cuba claimed the men’s ticket to the 2023 FIVB Nations League, the premier annual event, following its 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17) victory over Turkey on Sunday.

On their path to their triumph, the Cubans lost only that second set. They first defeated Chile 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-19) and continued with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-18) success over Czech Republic.

The Cuban victory, winners of the 2022 NORCECA International League at home in Pinar del Rio, means that runners-up Dominican Republic gets the pass to next year’s FIVB Challenger Cup.

With the score tied at 1-1, Miguel Lopez led a Cuban reaction scoring 6 points in each of the final two sets increasing to 50 points his tally for the three matches.

The Captain Lopez led Cuba with 20 points, including two blocks and two aces, followed by Jesus Jaime Herrera with 19. Roamy Alonso and Osniel Melgarejo contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.

As a team, Cuban dominated in attacks 56-43 and service winners 8-0 while getting the 9-8 edge in blocks. Each team committed 25 errors.

In the match for 3-4 positions, Korea won a duel with Czech Republic 3-2 (25-19, 25-16, 24-26, 23-25, 22-20).

BOLOGNA, Italy, July 20, 2022 – United States recovered from losing the opening set and went on to defeat Brazil in the quarterfinals of the Men’s FIVB Volleyball Nations League on Wednesday.

The Americans advanced to the semifinals following their victory 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-27) taking advantage of 28 unforced errors by the Brazilians.

The winners led in blocks (7-3) and aces (4-2) while the losers had the upper hand in attacks (61-56).

Torey Defalco and Aaron Russell topped the American scoring with 17 and 14 points, respectively, while David Smith added 11.

Yoandy Leal led Brazil with 18 points, followed by Ricardo Lucarelli with 16 and Darlan Ferreira with 13.

OSAKA, Japan, July 10, 2022 – United States finished with a win-loss record of 10-2 at the preliminary round of the 2022 FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League following victories over Canada and Argentina.

The Americans scored an easy victory over Canada 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-19) and followed with a 3-2 (29-27, 22-25, 20-25, 25-13, 17-15) hard fought battle against Argentina.

Torey Defalco led the scoring in both victories with 18 against Canada and 28 in the duel against Argentina.

In the match with their North-American neighbors, the winners held advantage in blocks 5-1 and serving aces 5-2. They also dominated both categories in the clash with the Argentineans 13-7 and 3-2, respectively.

The Canadians finished the event with a 2-10 record.

OSAKA, Japan, July 6, 2022 – The United States improved its record to 7-2 at the FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League after defeating Germany 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 22-25, 25-18) to start the third and final week of the preliminary round.

Aaron Russell, Kyle Ensing and Torey Defalco led the American offense with 23, 13 and 12 points, respectively. Lukas Maase and Tobias Brand finished with 15 and 12 for Germany.

In the second match of Tuesday, Argentina beat Canada 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23) improving to 3-6 with the Canadians descending to 2-7.

Ezequiel Palacios was the best scorer for the South American side with 18 points, followed by Agustin Loser and Luciano Palonsky who tallied 15 and 11 points.

Erick Loeppky had a match-high 20 points for Canada, followed by Ryan Sclater and Stephen Timothy Maar with 16 and 12, respectively.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 4, 2022 – Two women’s teams from NORCECA Confederation – United States and Dominican Republic- are among the Top-10 in the most recent ranking published by FIVB on July 2.

The Americans continue to maintain the top position among the best female teams of the world while the Dominicans occupy the ninth place following the conclusion of the preliminary round of the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.

The USA Team finished the preliminary phase with an 11-1 win-loss record while the Dominicans had a 5-7 mark after losing their first four matches when they could not count with their star player Brayelin Martinez due to a slight injury.

Canada who finished with a 4-8 record stayed in 16th position while Puerto Rico and Mexico are in 18th and 24th positions.

Individually, Canadian Kiera Van Ryk was the best server of the preliminary round where each team played one total 12 matches as she landed 20 aces, double than Dominican Yonkaira Peña who was seventh with 10.

Dominican Niverka Marte was the third best setter of this part of the annual competition with 298 successful sets and only 7 errors.

In the scoring department, Van Ryk was the fifth best with 213 points while their fellow Canadian Alexa Gray was in tenth place with 181 and Dominican Peña followed with 180.

CALGARY, Canada, July 3, 2022 – United States finished the preliminary round of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League with an 11-1 record after defeating Germany 3-1 (25-17, 25-13, 13-25, 25-22) on Sunday night.

Sarah Wilhite had 24 points as the best American scorer, followed by Jordan Thompson and Kathryn Plummer with 14 and 10, respectively.

In the last match of the evening, the Netherlands won a close contest with Canada 3-1 (22-25, 27-25, 26-24, 25-23). The Canadians finished with a 4-6 record.

Celeste Plak led Netherlands with 19 points, followed by Fleur Savelkoel and Anne Buijs with 14 and 11, respectively.

Kiera Van Ryk and Alexa Gray each scored 22 points for Canada. Emily Maglio added 12 points.

CALGARY, Canada, July 2, 2022 – Germany won a close match against host Canada 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 27-25, 25-23) in the penultimate day of the third and last week of the preliminary round of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League on Saturday night.

Both teams have 4-7 win-loss records.

Canada killed its chances of a victory by committing an astonishing 32 errors to only 14 by the Germans. The Canadians led in attacks (64-53) and blocks (11-4) and the Germans led in serves I7-3).

Hanna Orthmann led Germany with 21 points, and Ivana Vankak and Camila Weitzel contributed 15 and 12 points to the victory.

Alexa Gray and Kiera Van Ryk finished with 26 and 22 points, respectively, for Canada. Jennifer Cross added 12 in the loss.

CALGARY, Canada, July 2, 2022 – Three players scored over 20 points as United States edged Turkey 3-2 (25-22, 18-25, 27-25, 23-25, 18-16) for its tenth victory against one loss at the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League on Saturday.

Kara Bajema, Andrea Drews and Kelsey Robinson finished with 25, 24 and 21 points, respectively, for the American side. Haleigh Washington added 11 in the victory.

Ebrar Karakurt had a match-high 27 points for Turkey and next was Zehra Gunes with 19. Saliha Sahin and Eda Ederm finished with 17 and 14 points, respectively.

Turkey held the advantage in blocks (12-5) while the Americans led in service winners (9-2).

SOFIA, Bulgaria, July 2, 2022 – Brayelin Martinez and Gaila Gonzalez each scored 23 points leading the Dominican Republic to a 3-2 (20-25, 38-36, 25-20, 13-25, 15-9) emotional farewell victory at the 2022 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League on Saturday.

Yonkaira Peña and Jineiry Martínez added 15 and 12 points, respectively, in the victory for the Dominican side that concluded its participation in the preliminary phase with a 5-7 win-loss record after a 0-4 start.

Poland’s Martyna Czyrnianska led all the players in the match with 27 points just ahead of Olivia Rozanski who finished with 21.

The Polish held a 17-12 advantage in blocks led by Agnieszka Kakolewska who had 8 blocks among her 17 points. Dominican Angelica Hinojosa had 4 blocks for the winners.

CALGARY, Canada, July 2, 2022 – Reigning world champions Serbia defeated Canada 3-1 (25-20, 25-14, 20-25, 25-22) in a match of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League at 7 Chiefs Sportsplex.

The Serbians started strong, and raced out to a two-sets-to-none lead, before Canada found its game and showed its fighting spirit extending the match with a third set victory and a close fourth.

Kiera Van Ryk led red-and-white with 19 points, just ahead of Emily Maglio who posted a 2022 VNL personal-best 16 points.

The Canadian women’s team is now 4-6. With four wins, and two games to go, Canada is one victory back of eighth-place Thailand who currently hold the last berth in the Final Round.

Next up for the Canadians is a showdown with Germany Saturday at 8 pm.

SOFIA, Bulgaria, July 1, 2022 – China swept Dominican Republic in straight sets 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-15) in a volleyball match of the FIVB Women’s Nations League on Friday.

The Chinese are in fourth place with a 7-4 win-loss record while Dominican Republic descended to 4-7 in tenth position.

The Dominicans finish their participation in this year’s VNL playing against Poland (4-6).

The Chinese team played almost perfect volleyball while committing only 7 unforced errors throughout the match compared to 21 by the Dominicans.

Li Yingying led China with 15 points followed by Xinyue Yuan and Xiangyu Gong with 10 points apiece. Yonkaira Peña was the top scorer for the Dominican Republic with 15 points and Gaila Gonzalez added 10 tallies.

CALGARY, Canada, June 30, 2022 – The United States’ female national team defeated Serbia in straight sets 3-0 (25-17, 33-31, 25-16) improving its league leading record to 9-1 at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League on Thursday.

Kathryn Plummer finished the contest with 18 points for the winners. Jordan Thompson was next with 15 and Sarah Wilwhite added 12.

Bienka Busa and Ana Bjelica had 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Serbian team that dropped its record to 6-4.

The Americans finished with eight blocks as a team, including three by middle blocker Haleigh Washington who also had one ace and 8 points.

SOFIA, Bulgaria, June 28, 2022 – Host Bulgaria defeated Dominican Republic in straight sets to start the third and last week of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League in Sofía. Both teams have 3-6 win-loss records.

The Bulgarian team dominated from start to finish and only in the third set the Dominican side was able to show its best weapons. The score was 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-21).

Maria Yordanova led Bulgaria with 22 points, including two blocks and one ace. Nasya Dimitrova and Miroslava Paskova each contributed 10 points in the victory. Gaila Gonzalez led Dominican Republic with 10 points and Jeiniry Martinez finished with nine.

Bulgaria led in all the scoring categories, including a huge advantage in attacks (43-29). They also had the upper hand in blocks (9-4) and aces (5-0).