France and Slovenia dashed the title hopes of Italy and Argentina, respectively, to advance to the semifinals of the 2024 VNL.
France and Slovenia secured the last two berths in the semifinals of the 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL), locking up their slots with separate wins on Friday, June 28.
World no. 6 France dug deep, pulling off a come-from-behind victory and eliminating fourth-ranked Italy in five grueling sets, 19-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11, at the Atlas Arena, in Lódz, Poland.
The defending Olympic champions leaned on Jean Patry, who poured 28 points built on 25 attacks, two aces, and a block to spearhead the resurgence.
Trevor Clevenot also shouldered the offensive load, uncorking 20 markers, all but one coming from spikes, while Kevin Tillie and Nicolas Le Goff made their presence felt above the net.
With Tillie and Le Goff collecting three and four blocks to finish with 15 and eight points, respectively, France put up a 13-5 blocking differential, edging out Italy, which delivered a 69-64 spiking disparity.
Mattia Bottolo led the balanced scoring thrust of the Italians with 18 points that went for naught.
Leandro Mosca and Luca Porro scored 15 apiece, while Alessandro Bovolenta and Giovanni Sanguinetti managed 14 and 10 markers, respectively.
The Frenchmen will next face world no. 1 Poland, which sent Brazil packing a day ago, in the semifinals.
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Meanwhile, world No. 3 Slovenia followed a similar script, carving out a hard-earned comeback to dash the title hopes of eighth-ranked Argentina, 19-25, 25-17, 17-25, 29-27, 15-7.
Toncek Štern showed the way for the Slovenians, delivering 31 points anchored on 27 attacks, three blocks, and an ace.
Klemen Cebulj provided ample support with 16 markers, while Tine Urnaut and Alen Pajenk pitched in 12 and 10 points, respectively, in the winning cause.
Argentina had the edge in blocks (13-8) and aces (6-4), but Slovenia imposed its will in attacks (66-58) and played a more efficient outing as the former coughed out 27 errors to the latter's 24.
Bruno Lima paced the Argentinians with 26 points, while Luciano Palonsky managed 18 markers in the crushing defeat.
Next up for Slovenia is a semifinal clash with world no. 2 Japan.
The semis will begin on Saturday, June 29.