Poland destroys Japan in VNL Manila finale; Slovenians oust Dutch, China hits cellar

MANILA, Philippines – Poland basked in the sweet sound of silence as it wrecked fan favorite Japan in the final match of the 2023 Volleyball Men’s Nations League (VNL) Manila leg, 25-17, 25-19, 25-18, at the packed Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, July 9.

Cuban-Polish spiker Wilfredo Leon Venero led the blowout for the world’s top-ranked nation in men’s volleyball, leading all scorers with 16 points off 10 attacks, 3 blocks, and 3 aces. Lukasz Kaczmarek added 12 points, while Aleksander Sliwka scored 11.

Gaining momentum off a torrid back-and-forth exchange midway through the first set, Poland quickly established dominance with a 6-0 finishing kick to take the opener, before again turning a small 12-11 lead in the second to a 19-12 separation off a pivotal 7-1 pullaway.

Clearly having the upper hand, the Polish stars further hastened their offensive barrage entering the third set, starting off with a 10-5 attack that ballooned to as big as an 8-point advantage, 23-15 – a gap far too wide for the Japanese to overcome.

“Every time we step on the court, we want to win the game. It was really important no matter who is on the other side to just play our game, play the best way we can, and to win the game. We give 100% every time,” Sliwka said after the game.

As top spiker Ran Takahashi sat out for the second straight game, Tatsunori Otsuka took up the scoring cudgels for Japan with 11 points, their lone double-digit scorer. Yuji Nishida added 9 points in the losing cause, while captain Yuki Ishikawa scored 7.

Meanwhile, Slovenia completed the top eight playoff cast by ousting the Netherlands in an extended sweep, 25-20, 32-30, 25-22, off a team-high 14-point effort from Tine Urnaut.

Frequent top scorer Klemen Cebulj backstopped with 13 points, while fan favorite spiker Rok Mozic chipped in 11 as Slovenia rose to an 8-4 record for seventh place.

Dutch captain Nimir Abdel-Aziz went down swinging in the loss, finishing with a game-high 22 points as the Netherlands settled for ninth with a 5-7 slate.

Finally, Canada salvaged its lost cause in the tournament with a winning four-set finale, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-18, to kick China down to the cellar at 16th place with a 2-10 record.

Ryan Sclater and Stephen Maar led the way with 20 points apiece as Canada ended its run at 13th with a 3-9 slate. Nicholas Hoag and Danny Demyanenko, meanwhile, churned out 12 points each in the win.

Jingyin Zhang led all scorers in the defeat with 25 points. – Rappler.com