2023 VNL June 3: Five Teams Still Unbeaten

The penultimate day of week 1 in VNL 2023 kicked off with Brazil’s 3-1 win over Dominican Republic. Despite losing the match, Dominican Republic’s Gaila Gonzalez was the top scorer of the game, scoring an impressive 22 points. Brazil’s Ana Carolina Da Silva praised the opponents’ fighting spirit but credited her team’s defense, positioning, and blocking for the win. According to Volleyball World, Da Silva said that they need to keep moving forward although she is happy with the victory. After this match, Dominican Republic ended their week 1 campaign with a 2-2 record and four points.

In another match in pool 2, China faced off against Netherlands, and Li Yingying’s outstanding performance helped China secure a 3-1 (27-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-20) victory. China now won all three matches played, while the Netherlands ended their week 1 campaign winless across four matches.

In the final match of the day in pool 2, Japan defeated Bulgaria in straight sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-19), maintaining their perfect record of three wins out of three and nine points.

Moving on to pool 1, Poland started off the matchday in Antalya with a straight-set victory (25-18, 25-22, 30-28) over Serbia, making them the first team to secure four wins in the tournament. Serbia, on the other hand, remains winless after three games.

The second match of the day in Antalya saw USA taking on South Korea, with the former winning in straight sets (25-16, 27-25, 25-11). Despite being down 22-15 in the second set, USA clawed their way back to level the score at 23-23 before eventually clinching the set. USA has now won all three matches out of three, while South Korea is yet to secure a win in the tournament.

In the final match of the day, Türkiye defeated Italy in straight sets (25-19, 26-24, 25-19), with Melissa Vargas scoring a match-high of 22 points. According to Volleyball World, Vargas praised her team’s strong defense and blocking and noted that they were still adjusting to a new coaching staff. Türkiye remains unbeaten after playing three matches.

Tomorrow will be the final day of week 1, with two exciting matches lined up. The unbeaten teams of China and Japan will go head-to-head in one match, while USA and Türkiye, also both undefeated so far, will compete in the other. It will be interesting to see which teams can maintain their unbeaten status alongside Poland and emerge as the top contenders at the end of week 1.

(Featured image source: Volleyball World)

(Written by Boris CHUNG Bok Man)