USA men stay in Volleyball Nations League contention; women ousted

The USA men beat Germany on Friday to stay in contention for the eighth and last spot in the Volleyball Nations League finals, but the USA women were bounced from their side of the tournament with a quarterfinal loss to Italy on Friday.

USA men stay in VNL finals contention

The American men remained in the hunt with a 25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 25-23 victory in Manila, Philippines, as they continued their quest to make the final eight.

Through Saturday early afternoon U.S. time, Poland was in first at 9-2. Italy, which played Slovenia later in the day, was second at 8-2, holding a points edge on Slovenia at 9-1. So the outcome of that match won’t affect the USA, which plays Japan on Sunday.

Canada is fourth after finishing at 8-4, Japan is fifth at 8-3, and France is alone in sixth at 7-4. Brazil is 6-5, Argentina is eighth after finishing 6-6, and Cuba, Serbia and the USA are tied at 5-6.

The Sunday schedule also shows Germany vs. Iran, France vs. Brazil, Cuba vs. Poland, Türkiye vs. Italy and Serbia vs. Slovenia. The USA must win and hope that France beats Brazil, Poland beats Cuba and Slovenia beats Serbia.

Against Germany, which dropped to 4-7, veteran Matt Anderson led with 20 kills and three aces. TJ DeFalco added 18 kills, seven digs a block and an ace. Jeff Jendryk had six kills and four blocks and David Smith had five kills and four blocks. Libero Erik Shoji had 14 digs and setter Micah Christenson had seven digs to go with two kills and a block.

György Grozer had 14 kills and two aces to lead Germany, which finishes VNL against Iran.

Early VNL exit for USA women

The USA women were swept out of the VNL quarterfinals 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 by Italy, which advanced to a Saturday semifinal match against Japan. In the other semifinal, Brazil plays Poland.

Avery Skinner led the Americans with 10 kills, six digs and an ace. Haleigh Washington had six kills and three blocks and Jordan Thompson had eight kills. Dana Rettke had five kills, a block and an ace and Kelsey Cook, who came in in the third set, finished with six kills and six digs. Setter Lauren Carlini had two kills, a block, four digs and an ace. Justine Wong-Orantes had 11 digs.

Italy’s Paola Egonu had 18 kills, two blocks and an ace and Miriam Sylle had nine kills and a block.

The USA is going to play the Netherlands three times in Long Beach next month to tune up for the Paris Olympics. 

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