Nanjing, China, July 1, 2018 – United States stood on top of the podium on Sunday as the first-ever FIVB Volleyball Nations League champions, with a tie-breaker triumph (3-2: 17-25, 25-22, 26-28, 25-15, 15-7) against Turkey at Nanjing Olympic Sports Center.
USA coach Karch Kiraly said “I am so proud of this team. All 14 of them, and many others back home, have put their heart and soul into this, and that makes us better every day. It is a great win for the USA women’s programme.”
He added “We look at this VNL as our main challenge and our main preparation going into the World Championship."
Turkey coach Giovanni Guidetti said “This silver medal means the highest result in Turkish volleyball and we are really proud to make this little step of history with a very young team. It is also one small step, not to make us think we are too good, because we are not too good. We are here to learn a lot. But this gives us the confidence that we can be in the league of great teams. It is far ahead, but we are getting closer. Congratulations to USA. In my opinion, together with Brazil, they play the best volleyball. Karch Kiraly found a lot of solutions today, and, for sure, in every match. They have a lot of good players and it is absolutely acceptable for me to lose a final against a team like this.”