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USA win seventh straight in World League; Iran upset Italy
Lausanne, Switzerland, June 20, 2014 – USA overcame Bulgaria 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-16) at home to go 7-0 in Pool B of the FIVB World League on Friday, while Iran continued to upset higher-ranked teams in Pool A by beating Italy 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-15) in Tehran. Also in Pool A, Poland beat Brazil 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 28-30, 25-20), prompting Brazil captain Bruno Rezende to call his team’s performance “embarrassing,” while in Pool B defending champions Russia defeated Serbia 3-0 (37-35, 25-15, 25-16). Outside hitter Taylor Sander, playing his first season with the U.S. senior team, was the top scorer for the Americans with 20 points. The hosts dropped the first set, but recovered to take the next three. “We knew Bulgaria would come back and play very hard,” USA coach John Speraw said. “They served very, very well in the first set and put a lot of pressure on us, but we were able to play a little bit better on our side of the net and we are grateful that we come away with a win tonight.” Pool A’s runaway leaders Italy had previously beaten Iran twice this year in the World League – both 3-0 – but the Iranians have been growing stronger as the tournament progresses and shut out the Italians in Tehran. Italy coach Mauro Berruto said the absence of Ivan Zaytsev was not a factor and handed down a brutal assessment of his team’s performance. “I do not regret that Zaytsev is not in the list of players for the matches against Iran; he is a player and not a team,” Berruto stated. “In comparison with the last match we had in Italy against Iran, the power of my team was below zero, as some of my players forgot what team they were playing for.” Iran’s win and Brazil’s loss enabled Iran to rise to third in the Pool A standings and put Brazil in the cellar. Italy are top with 19 points, while Poland are second with 11, one more than Iran and three more than Brazil. In Pool B, USA are on top with 18 points followed by Serbia and Russia, both with 11 points. Bulgaria are bottom with two points. Russia eventually beat Serbia 3-0 in Surgut on Friday but had to get through a 44-minute first set to do so, eventually taking the set 37-35. Brazil lost their sixth match out of nine and captain Bruno Rezende clearly showed his unhappiness in the post-match press conference. “My team's play today was embarrassing,” he said. “I do not know what is happening. I am ashamed of our performance not only in this match, but in the entire tournament. This is the worst World League ever for us.” In other matches on Friday, Australia pulled off a superb comeback victory against Canada in Edmonton, edging the hosts 3-2 (25-27, 20-25, 30-28, 25-17, 15-13). In another Pool C match, Belgium beat Finland 3-1 in Antwerp, while in Pool D, Argentina defeated Germany 3-0 in Berlin. Live scoring
FIVB World League 2014
Performances 32 – Matthew Anderson of
USA v Serbia (June 14) 32 – Maurice Torres of
Puerto Rico v Spain (June 8) 32 – Thomas Edgar of
Australia v Finland (June 7) 31 – Gavin Schmitt of
Canada v Australia (June 20) 31 – Gavin Schmitt of
Canada v Belgium (June 8) 28 – Michal Winiarski of
Poland v Italy (June 13) 28 – Jeon Kwang-In of
Korea v Czech Republic (June 5) 28 – Gavin Schmitt of
Canada v Finland (June 1) 28 – Nemanja Petric of
Serbia v Russia (May 31) 28 – Christian Fromm of
Germany v Japan (May 24) 28 – Kunihiro Shimizu of
Japan v Germany (May 24) 27 – Aleksandar
Atanasijevic of Serbia v Russia (June 20) 27 – Rolando Cepeda of
Cuba v Turkey (June 6) 27 – Karel Linz of Czech
Republic v Korea (June 5) 26 – Park Chul-Woo of
Korea v Netherlands (June 1) Top Blocking
Performances 8 – Gil Marcel Keller of
Portugal v Netherlands (June 8) 8 – Nicolas Le Goff of
France v Japan (May 31) 8 – Matteo Piano of
Italy v Brazil (May 24) 8 – Jorge Fernandez
Valcarel (June 15) 6 – Artem Volvich of
Russia v Serbia (May 30) 6 – Aidan Zingel of
Australia v Finland (June 14) 6 – Viktor Yosihof of
Bulgaria v Russia (June 15) Top Blocking
Performances by Team 18 – USA v Serbia (June
14) 18 – Portugal v
Netherlands (June 8) 17 – Canada v Australia
(June 20) 17 – Spain v Slovakia
(June 15) 17 – Turkey v Tunisia
(June 8) 17 – France v Argentina
(May 24) 16 – Netherlands v Czech
Republic (June 14) 16 – Spain v Puerto Rico
(June 8) 16 – Italy v Poland
(June 8) 16 – Turkey v Mexico
(June 7) 16 – Czech Republic v
Korea (June 5) 16 – Iran v Brazil (June
6) Top Serving Performances 6 – Alexandre Ferreira
(Portugal) v Czech Republic (May 31) 5 – Luiz Felipe Fonteles
(Brazil) v Poland (May 29) 5 – Dick Kooy
(Netherlands) v Korea (May 31) 5 – Nicolas Marechal
(France) v Germany (June 15) Top Serving Performances
by Team 11 – USA v Bulgaria
(June 20) 11 – Bulgaria v Serbia
(June 8) 11 – France v Germany
(June 15) 10 – Germany v Japan
(May 24) 10 – Finland v Australia
(June 15) 9 – Netherlands v Czech
Republic (June 14) 9 – Portugal v
Netherlands (June 7) 9 – Iran v Brazil (June
6) 9 – Serbia v Russia (May
30) Highest Scorer by Round Week 1: 28 – Christian
Fromm of Germany v Japan; Kunihiro Shimizu of Japan v Germany (May 24) Week 2: 28 – Nemanja
Petric of Serbia v Russia (May 31) Week 3: 32 – Maurice
Torres of Puerto Rico v Spain (June 8); Thomas Edgar of Australia v Finland
(June 7) Week 4: 32 – Matthew
Anderson of USA v Serbia (June 14) Week 5: 31 – Gavin
Schmitt of Canada v Australia (June 20)
Highest Set Score Week 1: Germany v Japan,
27-29 (May 24) Week 2: Brazil v Poland,
29-27 (May 29) Week 3: Czech Republic v
Korea, 31-33 (June 5); Turkey v Cuba, 31-33 (June 6); Belgium v Canada, 33-31
(June 8) Week 4: USA v Serbia
(June 13), China v Puerto Rico (June 15) 30-28 Week 5: Russia v Serbia
(June 20) 37-35
Highest Scoring Matches Week 1: Germany v Japan
(May 24) (25-23, 25-21, 27-29, 23-25, 15-9) – 222 points Week 2: Canada v Finland
(June 1) (19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 23-25, 15, 11) – 207 points Week 3: Czech Republic v
Korea (June 5) (31-33, 25-19, 26-24, 26-28, 20-18) – 250 points Week 4: Poland v Italy
(June 13) (25-23, 24-26, 26-24, 25-27, 15-10) – 225 points Week 5: Australia v
Canada (June 20) (25-27, 20-25, 30-28, 25-17, 15-13) – 225 points
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