FIVB World League 2017- Group 2– Slovenia clinched their second straight group title in the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League Group 2 since their debut last year.
Slovenian players Urnaut, Gasparini and Cebulj rank among the top 10 best scorers in Group 2, along with other finalists like Wouter Ter Maat of the Netherlands, Paul Carroll and Nathan Roberts of Australia, Yuki Ishikawa and Masahiro Yanagida of Japan.
The three Slovenians combined for a total of 425 points in their 11 matches. Last year, they also led their team to an astonishing debut of winning the Group 3 title. This year, they proved that they are really a top-flight team with their Group 2 title victory.
Slovenia ended their 2017 World League campaign with 10 wins and one loss. Their only defeat in the tournament was the five-setter against Japan.
Slovenia clearly bounced back from that preliminary round loss to Japan, when they faced each again in the final. The European side dominated in attacks, blocks and serves to come out on top of Group 2 with a 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-17) win over the Asian squad.
In the bronze medal match, Australian captain Paul Carroll made their home fans proud after their 3-0 (29-27, 25-19, 28-26) win over the Netherlands. The Australians had to overcome their five-set loss to Japan on Saturday and endured three sets of intense battle with the Netherlands in the medal round to finally end their campaign on a high note.
Australia showed mental toughness to earn the win, as the Netherlands also fought hard in each set. Carroll was almost unstoppable from the flanks with 16 attacks, but also made some contribution on defence with two blocks.
Final standings:
1. Slovenia
2. Japan
3. Australia
4. The Netherlands
Source and Photo: FIVB
