The U.S. men’s team beat Germany on Friday to qualify for the final eight spots in the Volleyball Nations League Finals, but the U.S. women’s team was eliminated from the tournament after losing to Italy in the quarterfinals on Friday.
USA men still in chance of reaching VNL final
The U.S. men’s team continued their push for a spot in the quarterfinals with a 25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 25-23 victory in Manila, Philippines.
As of early Saturday afternoon U.S. time, Poland was in first place with a 9-2 record. Italy, which played Slovenia later that day, was in second place with an 8-2 record and trailed Slovenia with a 9-1 record, so the result of that game will not affect the U.S., which plays Japan on Sunday.
Canada is in 4th place with 8 wins and 4 losses, Japan is in 5th place with 8 wins and 3 losses, France is in 6th place alone with 7 wins and 4 losses, Brazil is in 8th place with 6 wins and 5 losses, Argentina is in 8th place with 6 wins and 6 losses, and Cuba, Serbia, and the United States are all tied with 5 wins and 6 losses.
Sunday’s schedule also includes Germany vs. Iran, France vs. Brazil, Cuba vs. Poland, Turkey vs. Italy and Serbia vs. Slovenia. The U.S. is a must-win team, and will be hoping France beats Brazil, Poland beats Cuba and Slovenia beats Serbia.
In the 4-7 win over Germany, veteran Matt Anderson led the team with 20 kills and three aces. TJ DeFalco added 18 kills, seven digs, one block and one ace. Jeff Jendrick had six kills and four blocks and David Smith had five kills and four blocks. Libero Eric Shoji had 14 digs and setter Micah Christenson had seven digs to go with two kills and one block.
György Grozer led Germany with 14 points and two aces in their VNL final against Iran.
U.S. women make early exit from VNL
The U.S. women’s team lost 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 to Italy in the quarterfinals of the VNL, which will face Japan in Saturday’s semifinals, while Brazil will face Poland in the other semifinal.
Avery Skinner led the USA with 10 kills, six digs and one ace. Hailey Washington had six kills and three blocks and Jordan Thompson had eight kills. Dana Rettke had five kills, one block and one ace and Kelsey Cook, who came on in the third set, finished with six kills and six digs. Setter Lauren Carlini had two kills, one block, four digs and one ace. Justine Wong Orantes had 11 digs.
Italy’s Paola Egonu had 18 kills, two blocks and one ace, while Miriam Cyr had nine kills and one block.
The U.S. is scheduled to play the Netherlands three times in Long Beach next month as it prepares for the Paris Olympics.
