Lausanne, Switzerland, May 18, 2019 – Men’s 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League action in Pool 3 will start with a major clash between western hemisphere super powers USA and Brazil in a remake of last year’s bronze medal match. Reigning world champions Poland and one of the VNL challenger teams, Australia, will also take to the court in Katowice during the first week of the competition.
Four teams from four different continents will start the race towards the Final Six in Chicago with three days of hard-fought battles at the Spodek Arena from May 31 through June 2.
With their fantastic fans by their side at home in Katowice, world champs Poland will return to the court for their first official matches after their triumph at the 2018 World Championship in Italy. With a fresh refill of self-confidence, coach Vital Heynen’s team will try to get a head start towards a second appearance at the VNL finals, after finishing fifth in the inaugural 2018 edition. However, “It is really hard to name a favourite,” admitted libero Pawel Zatorski, the best digger of the 2018 VNL and a Dream Teamer at the World Championship. “The VNL will get huge attention from the fans and many teams will want to take the crown.” The Poles will take on Germany in a pre-season friendly on May 25 at home, in Gliwice, and this will be the first and the last test for them ahead of the VNL. Then, in Katowice, they hope to repeat their successful start in last year’s VNL – three wins in three matches played on Polish ground in Krakow.
It is not going to be an easy task for the hosts as two of the teams they lost to in the 2018 VNL are coming to Katowice this year. In fact, USA scored at least one win over each of their three opponents in the pool. In 2018, the Americans started off with a five-victory run, before conceding to Brazil, and then went on to claim the bronze after taking a hard-earned revenge from the South Americans in the third place final. With a stellar roster, including 2018 Dream Teamers Matthew Anderson and captain Taylor Anderson, and the additional luxury of having secured their spot at the finals at home in Chicago, United States should be the team to watch in the 2019 edition.
Brazil celebrate their 3-2 home victory over USA in the 2018 VNL preliminary round
Brazil also defeated each of their three upcoming opponents in the preliminary round of the 2018 VNL. They will arrive in Katowice as semifinalists from the last edition and silver medallists from the World Championship. Regardless of their past performances or current state of form, the South American giants are always a team to be reckoned with, but with a squad including Wallace De Souza, the top scorer of the entire 2018 VNL season with 277 points, and three of the individual chart toppers from the finals in Lille - best blocker Lucas Saatkamp, best setter Bruno Rezende and best receiver Thales Hoss, they are certainly one of the big favourites. Before travelling to Katowice, Brazil will entertain Canada for a couple of friendlies on May 22 and 24 in Campinas. "Everyone is in good physical condition,” stated coach Renan Dal Zotto. “We know that technically they are spectacular players, and we will quickly get everyone on a fairly homogeneous level to be strong already in this first tournament in Poland."
Action from the 2018 Australia vs. Poland encounter in Melbourne
In such titanic company, Australia may look like the clear underdogs, but they are highly motivated to earn as many points as possible, since it could be vital in their quest to outperform at least one of the other three challenger teams in VNL and avoid relegation. The Volleyroos will assemble in Poland well ahead of time for a training camp near Katowice and some warm-up matches against Czechia in preparation for their VNL matches. Despite a four-match losing streak at the start of last year’s edition, Australia did eventually upset some strongholds, such as Bulgaria and Italy, to earn a total of five wins, enough to survive and return even stronger this year. “It’s all about progression - to be better than last year and take multiple wins that we aren’t expected to win,” said libero Luke Perry, the best digger of the 2018 preliminary round. “Last year we beat some quality teams and took some of the best teams right to the end, but we weren’t satisfied. We took all the positives out of that tournament going forward.”
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