Now a week of rest and then on to Poland.
To play France.
Again.
The USA men swept Bulgaria on Sunday night in Anaheim to finish the third round of Volleyball Nations League.
Next up, a match with France, whom the Americans swept on Saturday. France beat Germany on Sunday to get into the final eight.
The quarterfinals start July 19 in Gdansk, Poland, and after USA-France, Italy plays Argentina. The next day, Japan plays Slovenia and Poland plays Brazil.
The women’s quarterfinals start Wednesday in Arlington, Texas, as the USA plays Japan and Poland plays Germany. Thursday, Brazil plays China and Türkiye plays Italy.
Men’s standings
The USA and Japan tied for first. The Americans lost their last match of the first round to Brazil in four and second match of the third round to Argentina, 25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 43-41, 15-12 this past Friday. Japan was riding high but lost its last two matches, in four to Italy before getting swept by Poland.
Country, match record, sets record
1. USA, 10-2, 33-7
2. Japan 10-2, 31-16
3. Poland, 10-2, 30-19
4. Italy, 9-3, 28-15
5. Argentina, 9-3, 32-18
6. Brazil, 8-4, 30-18
7. Slovenia, 8-4, 27-17
8. France, 6-6, 23-21
9. Serbia, 6-6, 23-23
10. Netherlands, 5-7, 22-24
11. Germany, 3-9, 16-28
12. Canada, 3-9, 15-31
13. Cuba, 3-9, 15-33
14. Iran, 2-10, 16-31
15. Bulgaria, 2-10, 13-32
16. China, 2-10, 12-33
USA sweeps Bulgaria
The Americans won 29-27, 25-19, 25-21 in a match that allowed coach John Speraw to play his reserves after that tough loss to Argentina on Friday and the win over France on Saturday.
Garrett Muagututia led with 13 kills and a block and added four digs. Thomas Jaeschke had 10 kills and two blocks and led the team with 10 digs.
Matt Andereson had six kills, a block and an ace and Jeff Jendryk had six kills and two blocks to go with four digs. David Smith had five kills and a block and Kyle Ensing added two kills.
Setter Micah Ma’a had two kills, two blocks, five digs and an ace. Libero Erik Shoji had five digs.
“It’s been a long time and the guys are so helpful,” Ma’a said after the rare start in place of Micah Christenson. “When you are out there and you feel a little nervous, they give you a lot of confidence.
“We’ve got a great group of guys and I would just give all the credit to them. We’ve got really good leaders, guys with experience…
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