Lausanne, Switzerland, February 26, 2019 – On May 31, 2019, the second edition of the men’s FIVB Volleyball Nations League is set to get underway and expected to build upon the exciting inaugural season of this new competition in 2018.
The video below is a reminder of some of the top defensive actions from last year’s finals in Lille, France, and of the 120 preliminary round matches played around the world on the way to the finals.
• Three of the players, who made incredible saves for Brazil in the #1 dig featured in the video, took part in a Brazilian Superliga clash over the weekend, with Lucas Loh and William Arjona’s SESI-SP Sao Paulo defeating Douglas Souza’s EMS Taubate Funvic in four sets. The two teams, placed second and third in the current standings, respectively, will be in action again on Friday. Statistically, Lucas Loh was the eighth best digger of the 2018 VNL finals, but also the second best receiver.
• Last year’s Dream Team middle blocker Kevin Le Roux of France also plays in the Brazilian championship and his team, Sada Cruzeiro Volei Belo Horizonte, lead the standings, one point clear of SESI-SP. Their next Superliga game is on March 9. On Tuesday, February 26, Le Roux and his teammates also start the defence of their title in the South American Club Championship against UCPN San Juan of Argentina. The competition takes place at Arena Minas in Belo Horizonte through March 2.
• Another Brazilian, Bruno Rezende, who topped the best setters individual ranking of the 2018 finals in Lille, plays for Cucine Lube Civitanova in the Italian SuperLega. A couple of weeks ago they lost the national cup final in a five-set match against Sir Safety Conad Perugia. They are currently placed third in the league standings and will be in action again on Sunday. Before that, on Wednesday, Lube will play their last match of the pool stage in Europe’s Champions League, where they remain unbeaten in five games so far and have already secured a spot in the quarterfinals.
• The Dream Team setter of the 2018 VNL, France’s Benjamin Toniutti, will go head to head with Bruno on Wednesday as his Polish side, ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle, visit Civitanova Marche in an attempt to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League as well. Having won the national cup about a month ago, ZAKSA lead the current standings in the Polish PlusLiga and are set to play their next match on Sunday.
• Another great setter, VNL bronze medallist Micah Christenson of USA, statistically the fourth best in the setters ranking of the finals in Lille, is recovering from a recent knee surgery, but his Italian team, Azimut Leo Shoes Modena, will also be in action in the same Champions League pool on Wednesday. They are ranked third, just below ZAKSA, in the pool standings, but also hold a decent shot at advancing to the last eight. They stand fourth in the current Italian championship table as Christenson is expected to rejoin them for the playoffs.
• The libero of France and the VNL Dream Team, Jenia Grebennikov, also plays for an Italian club. Grebennikov, who was statistically the fourth best digger of the 2018 VNL preliminary round and the fourth best receiver of the finals, and his current teammates from reigning club world champions Trentino Volley, are due on court on Tuesday evening as they visit Greece’s Olympiacos Piraeus for their first-leg semifinal clash in the CEV Cup, Europe’s second strongest club competition. Trentino are in the runner-up position in the Italian SuperLega, where they are scheduled to play again on Sunday.
• Another member of VNL silver medallists France, Kevin Tillie, is in the middle of the gold medal playoff in China’s Super League. His team, Beijing Baic Motor, lost the first two matches of the best-of-five series against Shanghai Golden Age and will try to stay alive as they come out for the third game on Wednesday.