USA, Francia, Italia e Argentina le prime a scendere in campo alle VNL Finals

Just three days after Türkiye were crowned as the Volleyball Nations League 2023 women’s champions, the dispute for gold among the men will begin in Gdansk, Poland, with the first two quarterfinals taking place on Wednesday.

USA, France, Italy and Argentina are the first national teams to get on the court at the Ergo Arena, with the North Americans facing the defending champions French at 17:00 local time (15:00 UTC) and the world champion Italians battling the South Americans at 20:00 local time (18:00 UTC).

• Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 Finals live on VBTV

The two remaining quarterfinal encounters will take place on Thursday, when Japan play Slovenia at 17:00 local time (15:00 UTC) and hosts Poland meet Brazil at 20:00 local time (18:00 UTC). The semifinals in Gdansk will have the winners of the two Wednesday matches meeting on one side of the bracket and the teams that emerge from Thursday’s duels clashing on the other.

The best team in the Preliminary Phase with ten victories in 12 matches, the United States will try to secure their fourth VNL medal. The Americans, however, are still chasing their first gold after taking silver in 2019 and 2022 and bronze in 2018.

Head coach John Speraw has managed his players well in the Preliminary Phase and now has his entire squad ready to contribute in the Finals. Setter Micah Christenson and outside hitter Torey Defalco were key players for the Americans so far and will play big roles against the French.

“The seeding doesn’t matter,” said Christenson. “The quarterfinals are going to be tough. We’re going to get ready to play some high-level volleyball and every game is a final at that point.”

The defending champions didn’t book their tickets to Gdansk until the last day of the Preliminary Phase, advancing in eighth place with six wins. As the Americans, they will also be looking for their fourth medal, but unlike their opponents, they already have a title, won last year – the Europeans also took silver in 2018 and bronze in 2021.

La stella Earvin Ngapeth, che non ha partecipato alla Fase Preliminare, ha accennato a un ritorno durante le VNL Finals e potrebbe unirsi al forte nucleo della squadra guidato dal compagno Trevor Clevenot, dal palleggiatore Antoine Brizard, dal libero Jenia Grebennikov e dal middle blocker Barthélémy Chinenyeze.

Stati Uniti e Francia si sono incontrati nell'ultima settimana della Fase Preliminare e gli americani hanno sfruttato il vantaggio di giocare in casa ad Anaheim vincendo in tre set. Hanno inoltre vinto tre degli ultimi cinque incontri tra le due squadre.

**Volleyball Nations League 2023: full schedule and results**

L'Italia, campione del mondo, ha spinto molto nella seconda metà della Fase Preliminare, risalendo la classifica e arrivando al quarto posto con nove vittorie, tutte ottenute nelle ultime dieci partite. Gli italiani hanno fatto la loro prima apparizione in semifinale nella VNL la scorsa stagione, ma sono ancora alla ricerca della loro prima medaglia nell'evento.

Head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi has already announced the 14 players that will make the trip to Poland and he’s taking 11 world champions, including the team’s main stars – setter Simone Giannelli, outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto, opposite Yuri Romanò and libero Fabio Balaso.

Their opponents Argentina are yet to make it to the VNL semifinals and will try to take the world champions down to get in the mix in the battle for medals after ranking fifth in the Preliminary Phase with the same nine victories as Italy.

Le medaglie olimpiche Luciano De Cecco (palleggiatore) e Austin Loser (centrale) hanno giocato un ruolo importante per i sudamericani nella Fase Preliminare, ma forse la notizia migliore per la squadra è stato l'alto livello di gioco dei giovani battitori esterni Luciano Palonsky e Luciano Vicentín.

Gli argentini hanno prevalso nel loro primo incontro nella VNL 2023, a Ottawa, in Canada, vincendo in set diretti, ma gli europei hanno dominato tre degli ultimi cinque incontri tra le due squadre.

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