2024 VNL May 19: S Korea Ends Losing Streak, Japan First Loss

In the final day of Week 1 in the 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL), the day began with the Netherlands defeating Germany 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20). Netherlands’ opposite Dambrink was the top scorer of the match, registering 20 points for the winning side. After Canada finished their Week 1 campaign with 3 wins, and the Netherlands losing their last two games, Canada has overtaken the Netherlands in the World Ranking, occupying the current final spot for qualifying to the Paris 2024 Olympics through the World Ranking pathway. With this win, the Netherlands has gained 4.48 World Ranking points, narrowing the gap between them and Canada to less than 4 points.

The second match of the day saw Brazil defeating Serbia in straight sets (25-15, 25-19, 25-19) in front of their home fans. Brazil finished Week 1 undefeated with 4 wins, while Serbia ended their Week 1 campaign with only 1 win in 4 matches.

In the third match, two undefeated teams, Poland and Japan, faced off against each other. The match ended in favor of the European side, with Poland winning 3-0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-23). In Set 1, Japan was leading 18-23, two points away from converting the set, but Poland made a comeback by winning 6 consecutive points to 23-24 and finally taking the set. Polish opposite hitter Stysiak was the top scorer of the match, registering an impressive 22 points in just 3 sets, helping Poland to finish Week 1 undefeated and on top of the table without conceding a single set.

Later in the day, reigning VNL champions Türkiye defeated VNL debutant France in straight sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-19). After the match, Türkiye finished Week 1 with 2 wins in four matches, while France finished with 1 win in the same number of matches.

Meanwhile, in Pool 2, the USA defeated the Dominican Republic in straight sets (25-23, 25-20, 25-18). USA outside hitter Skinner was the top scorer of the match, recording 18 points for the winning side. Both teams finished Week 1 with a 2-2 win-loss record.

In the final match of Week 1, South Korea upset Thailand 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-16, 25-16). Having been unable to win a match in the last two VNL campaigns, South Korea finally ended their 30-match losing streak in the Volleyball Nations League. South Korea ended their Week 1 campaign with 1 win in four matches, while Thailand are yet to win a match after Week 1.

(Featured image source: Volleyball World)

(Written by Boris CHUNG Bok Man)