Japan and France take down the top-2 seeds in Slovenia and Poland, respectively, to forge a final duel in VNL 2024.
Japan’s dream run in the Volleyball Nations League for 2024 extends to the men’s side of the bracket.
Ryujin Nippon continued to roughshod on the competition, with the world’s no. 2 team sweeping no. 3 Slovenia in the semifinals of the VNL 2024 for Men
early Sunday (PHL), 25-21, 27-25, 31-29.
Team captain Yuki Ishikawa led all scorers with 21 points, built around 19 attacks and two blocks. Yuji Nishida added another 18 points for Japan, who have now won five straight dating back to the VNL’s Manila Leg.
The victory gave Japan good separation over Slovenia in the world rankings, but more importantly, the win gave Ryujin Nippon their first Finals appearance in the VNL, matching the feat of their women counterparts earlier in the month.
Toncek Štern led the way for no. 1 seed Slovenia in a losing effort, going for 20 points.
In the other men’s semifinal, France outlasted erstwhile-champion and host Poland in five grueling sets, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 18-16.
Yacine Louati and Théo Faure came up big for the reigning Olympic champions, finishing with 21 and 20 points, respectively.
France also got big games from Trevor Clevenot (14 points) and Nicolas Le Goff (11 points) to return to the VNL Finals since 2022 when the team won the whole thing.
It was a disappointing end for Poland, the world’s no. 1 team and the VNL’s second seed behind Slovenia. Norbert Huber led the way with 18 points.