Belgium, Poland, Russia and Bulgaria recorded victories on Saturday to stay in contention for the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League Group 1 Final Six in Curitiba.
Russia and Bulgaria took difficult paths to victory, as the two squads played tough tie-breakers. Russia outlasted the United States, discounting USA outside spiker Taylor Sander’s top scoring efforts. Sander led all scorers of the day with 28 points, but Russia’s Egor Kliuka also had a decent point production that led to their victory. Kliuka tallied 22 points, built on 19 spikes and three blocks.
Bulgaria needed the win to have a chance of reaching the Final Six, but they were pushed hard by Serbia in the five-set encounter. Bulgaria finally prevailed as Tsvetan Sokolov delivered another high-scoring game. Sokolov scored 26 points, including 20 spikes, five blocks and an ace.
Poland, on the other hand, ensured that they stay in contention for the Final Six after their quick straight-set win over Iran. Michal Kubiak and Dawid Konarski teamed-up to lead the Polish offence, while Iran struggled as they players were held to produce only single-digit outputs.
Belgium are back on track to keep their quest for a Final Six berth after their 3-2 loss to Canada. The Belgians defeated the Italians 3-1 and pushed the latter further down to the Group 1 rankings – their worst-ever campaign in recent World League stints with six defeats in eight matches.
The four teams are hoping to earn one of the three available spots in the Final Six. As hosts, Brazil gain direct qualification; while France and Serbia have qualified on the second week and third week of preliminary round, respectively.
These four also carry the identical 4-4 win-loss cards, but Belgium lead with 14 points, followed by Poland and Russia with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Bulgaria stay in contention with 10 points.
Meanwhile, France bounced back from their loss to the Italians and came up with a convincing straight-set win over Canada. Stephen Boyer nailed 25 points, built on 24 spikes and an ace to be France’s main weapon. Boyer has contributed to France’s successful 7-1 run in the tournament with his excellent scoring game.
Argentina conclued the day’s action in with a historic four-set win over their South American rivals Brazil. Argentina, which have never won in their last 23 encounters in the World League, finally recorded a victory on their 24th meeting.
Source: FIVB
