USA vs Russia for men’s title of VNL

CHICAGO, USA, July 13, 2019 - Just two matches remain to be played as the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League reaches its climax on Sunday after Russia and USA emerged victoriously from the semifinals at the Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago.

Russia defeated Poland 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-22, 25-21), while USA overpowered Brazil in five sets 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-9) in Saturday's matches.

Bronze medal match: Poland-Brazil at 15.00 local time

Gold medal match: Russia-USA at 18.00 local time

Action got underway with Poland and Russia facing off as the back-to-back world champions sought to improve on their run of two wins in the Finals by taking on last year's VNL winners Russia.

Victor Poletaev was Russia's leading scorer with 24 points, while Bartosz Bednorz collected 15 for Poland.

In the second semifinal of the day, hosts USA were cheered on by an enthusiastic home crowd as last year's bronze medallists took on Brazil coming off two five-set matches, including a defeat to Poland and victory against Iran.}

The top scorers included Matt Anderson (22) and Sander (17) of USA, and Wallace De Souza (17) and Yoandy Leal (16) for Brazil.