USA women sweep Brazil; men start second round of Volleyball Nations League

Monday is the Volleyball Nations League off day.

It’s a day after the USA women not only beat Brazil at home, but swept to end the second round.

And a day before the USA men start their second round of VNL, this time in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

USA women sweep Brazil

The Americans finished the second round 7-1, tied wtih Poland — its next opponent — a 25-22, 25-19, 25-22 victory over Brazil before a packed house in Brasilia, Brazil.

Kathryn Plummer had her best match of the second round with nine kills, hitting .430, to go with three aces and she tied libero Morgan Hentz with nine digs.

Jordan Thompson had 13 kills and two aces and six digs. Khalia Lanier had 12 kills and hit .500. Haleigh Washington had five kills with no errors in eight attacks and three blocks. Asjia O’Neal had three kills and a block and Danielle Cuttino had a kill and two blocks. Setter Micha Hancock had a kill, two aces and three digs. The USA hit .360.

Three Brazilians had 10 kills each. Thaisa had 10 kills, a block and an ace. Maiara Basso had 10 kills, a team-best seven digs and a block, and Kisy Nascimento had 10 kills, five digs and a block. Julia Bergmann had six kills and an ace.

Brazil finished the second round 6-2 after going 3-1 in each leg. In the second round, the Brazilians swept Korea, beat Serbia in five and beat Germany in four before playing the USA.

The Americans can’t say they’ve been shortchanged on sets. They played the first round in Türkiye and beat Serbia in five, beat Italy in five, swept Korea and beat Türkiye in five.

In Brazil they beat Croatia in four, swept Thailand, lost to Japan in five and then swept Brazil.

The USA has the week off before resuming play in Kuwon, Korea. And the third round starts with a big one, against Poland on June 28. Also in Kuwon, the USA plays Bulgaria, German and China.

The VNL quarterfinals start July 12 in Arlington, Texas, where the USA is guaranteed a spot as the home country.

VNL women after two rounds

Country, match record, sets record
1. Poland, 7-1, 21-7
2. USA, 7-1, 23-10
3. Türkiye 6-2, 20-8
4. China, 6-2, 20-10
5. Brazil, 6-2, 20-10
6. Germany, 6-2, 19-13
7. Japan, 5-3, 19-12
8. Italy 5-3, 18-17
9. Serbia, 3-5. 16-20
10. Canada, 3-5, 16-20
11. Dominican Republic, 3-5, 15-21
12. Netherlands, 2-6, 11-18
13. Thailand, 2-6, 11-1
14. Croatia, 2-6, 8-18
15. Bulgaria, 1-7, 8-21
16. Korea, 0-8, 1-24.
Notes: Based on points and sets ratio, Poland has the edge over the USA. Korea’s lone set win came against Germany on Sunday in a 3-1 loss.

USA men open against Serbia

The Americans are in Rotterdam, Netherlands, for matches against Serbia, China, Iran and Poland.

Just one men’s team got through the first round unscathed as surprising Japan went 4-0. The USA, Argentina, Slovenia, Brazil and Poland all went 3-1.

Each country submits a list of 30 players for VNL can bring 14 to each round. In the case of the USA this week, coach John Speraw has the following roster that includes eight Olympians:

Setters — Micah Christenson, Josh Tuaniga.
Middles — Max Holt, Taylor Averill, Jeff Jendryk, David Smith.
Opposites — Matt Anderson, Jake Hanes.
Outsides — TJ DeFalco, Cody Kessel, Aaron Russell, Thomas Jaeschke.
Liberos — Erik Shoji, Kyle Dagostino.

The Americans opened in Ottawa, Canada, and swept the Netherlands, Italy and Canada before losing in four to Brazil.

All VNL matches are replayed on Volleyball TV. Use the promo code VOLLEYBALLMAG for a discount on monthly or annual subscriptions. 

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