USA top VNL standings, Dominicans beat World Champs and Canada win to the Netherlands

USA top VNL standings, Dominicans beat World Champs and Canada win to the Netherlands

July 1, 2023.- United States rose to the top of the current Volleyball Nations League 2023 standings after defeating Germany (in Suwon), Dominican Republic beat current World Champions Serbia (in Suwon) and Canada won against the Netherlands in Bangkok.

Both USA & Germany teams already packing for the Finals in Arlington, the Americans persevered through Germany’s excellent blocking to claim a 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 25-13) victory, their 10th in 11 matches so far, and overtake Poland (9-2) in the table.

German middle Camilla Weitzel alone registered seven of her team’s 12 kill blocks in the game to lead the team on a total of 15 points. USA outperformed their opponents on all other elements, with outside hitter Alexandra Frantti and opposite Jordan Thompson producing a match-high 17 points each.

The Americans have one more game to play in Suwon. On Sunday, they will face China at 17:30 local time (08:30 UTC).

Dominican Republic beat the current world champion Serbia. Las Reinas del Caribe finished the 2023 VNL on a high with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-15, 23-25, 25-19, 15-10) victory over Serbia.

Dominicans held advantage in attack points (71-61) and service aces (5-2), committing fewer errors (18-24). Serbia outblocked Dominican Republic 13-10.

Brayelin Martinez (27 points), Gaila Gonzalez (26 points) and Yonkaira Peña (20 points) led Dominican Republic’s offense.

Dominican Republic ended with six wins and six losses.

Determined Canada closes week 3 with a win. In its third five-set match of week 3, Canada came out on top beating Netherlands in Bangkok, Thailand.

Although Netherlands fought point for point in the first set, closing it at 27, Canada didn’t back down despite ups and downs and this week's streak of long games. The final score was Netherlands 2, Canada 3 (27-25, 16-25, 25-18, 23-25, 9-15) on Saturday.

It was a fairly even contest on paper, with Canada having the slight advantage in attack points (57-56), blocks (16-14), service aces (5-3) and points from errors (30-27).

Canada’s Alexa Gray led scoring with 25 points; teammate Emily Maglio added 14.

This was Canada’s final match of the preliminary phase, ending with six wins in 12 matches. As of Saturday morning, Canada sits just outside of the top 8, with matches still to come today and on July 2 to round out women's week 3 of the tournament.