There were six matches Friday in Volleyball Nations League, but that did not include first-place USA, which had the day off after opening the third round with victories over Poland and Bulgaria.
“A day off,” USA coach Karch Kiraly said from Suwon, Korea, “means we have time to regroup and prepare for Germany and China.”
The race is on in the final two days of the third round to make the final eight.
The Americans are in, regardless, because the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal rounds are in Arlington, Texas, and the host team is guaranteed a spot. That’s moot point, of course.
After Friday’s action — which included a big sweep by Türkiye of Brazil and an explosion by Serbia’s Tijana Boskovic against Germany — here’s how the standings look, with match records followed by set records:
1. USA (9-1, 29-12)
2. Poland (9-2, 29-13)
3. Türkiye (8-3, 28-11)
4. Brazil (7-4, 25-18)
5. Germany (7-4, 25-20)
6. China (6-4, 23-16)
7. Japan (6-4, 23-17)
8. Italy (6-4, 23-22)
After that, it’s on, because the logjam includes Serbia (5-5), Netherlands (5-6), Canada (5-6) and the Dominican Republic (5-6).
Saturday, the USA plays Germany in a match that could not only determine the lead, but is huge for Germany. Also in Korea, Korea plays China and Serbia plays the Dominican Republic.
In Bangkok, Thailand, something’s gotta give because after Italy plays Croatia, the Netherlands plays Canada and Thailand plays Japan.
Sunday, the USA finishes with China. Also in Korea, Serbia plays Bulgaria and Poland plays Korea.
In Bangkok, Türkiye plays Croatia, Italy plays Japan and Thailand plays Brazil.
The Americans took the overall lead on Wednesday with their 17-25, 25-15, 27-25, 28-30, 16-14 win over Poland. In that match, veteran outside hitter Kelsey Robinson Cook, the Olympian making her 2023 VNL debut, had 17 kills and three blocks to go with 10 digs. She hit .370.
“The Poland match, the biggest things that stood out were, No. 1, they are really tough when we are not serving tough. They’ve got a couple of middles who are very effective hitting what we would call tight-quick or 1 sets, and in that first set we did not serve well and they passed in system something like 70 percent. They really hurt us offensively and they had some really effective blockers,” Kiraly said.
“We thought it was great that they challenged us and probably the best thing we did was show our ability to commitment and grinding and stay in…
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