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National Team News
Hosts of the VNL Finals, Poland defeated Japan in four sets to set up a thrilling Final against the United States of America, the winner of the other semifinal against Italy.
Both medal matches are scheduled to take place on 23 July.
Nikola Grbić’s Poland didn’t start the semifinal in the best way, failing to assert dominance in the opening set against a very lively Japan and eventually dropping the set without crossing the 20-point mark.
The second set was a more tight affair with both teams putting their best foot forward and pushing things all the way to the limit. Poland came out on top and didn’t look back afterwards. Wilfredo Leon and Lukas Kaczmarek lead their offensive efforts to claim a convincing win in the end, thus setting up the Final against the United States of America.
Japan vs Poland 1-3; 25-19, 26-28, 17-25, 21-25
In the other semifinal, Italy was definitely hoping for more in terms of results but also in terms of performance. The USA, however had a great game across the board, seemingly always in command of where they wanted the match to go.
Against Japan in the Bronze medal match, Italy will be confident of finding more of the form that has lead them to the semifinals and go home with a deserved medal.
United States vs Italy 3:0; 25-19, 25-18, 25-19