France are on top of the food chain of the Volleyball Nations League after taking down Japan in their gold medal match on Monday night.
With the win, France not only head to the Paris Olympics as the reigning Olympic champions but also the defending Volleyball Nations League gold medalists as well. Japan, on the other hand, will settle for the silver medal.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket, Poland won the bronze medal after beating Slovenia in straight sets on Sunday. Like France, they are also qualified for the Paris Olympics and are one of the favourites to win the gold medal, according to the Volleyball Nations League 2024 odds.
Just in case you missed last weekend’s intense volleyball action, don’t worry, as SBOTOP is here to recap the latest Volleyball Nations League 2024 updates.
France win second Volleyball Nations League gold
France won their second Volleyball Nations League gold in the last three years when they defeated Japan 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-23, 25-23) in a jam-packed Atlas Arena in Łódź, Poland.
Star opposite Jean Patry led the way for Les Bleus with a game-high 24 points (20 kills, three blocks, one ace), while Kevin Tillie added 13 points (12 kills, one block) off the bench, and fellow outside hitter Yacine Louati had 11 points (all in kills).
Captain Yuki Ishikawa had another solid performance for Japan in the losing effort with 17 points (all in kills), while opposites Yuji Nishida and Kento Miyaura had 11(all in kills) and 10 points (eight kills, two aces), respectively.
Prior to the win, France were quite inconsistent during the Preliminary Phase. They barely made it to the final in sixth place with eight wins and four losses, but they peaked at the right time in Łódź, beating two of the top three teams (Italy and Poland) in the World Rankings before facing Japan.
Overall, France have won their fourth medal in this tournament, as they also won silver in 2018 and bronze in 2021. The gold medal match triumph against Japan also moved them up to fourth in the updated World Rankings with 344.00 points.
As for Japan, winning silver is a marked improvement from their bronze medal finish last year since they also returned to the gold medal match of a major tournament for the first time since winning silver at the 1977 FIVB World Cup.
As far as their place in the World Rankings goes, Japan moved up to second place with 361.02 points.
Poland win bronze in battle for third place
Unfortunately for Poland, they were unsuccessful in their title defence after falling victim to France in the semi-finals. However, they were still able to secure their fifth medal in Volleyball Nations League history when they defeated Slovenia 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-17) in the third-place match.
This victory is impressive for Poland because Slovenia were the top team after the Preliminary Phase. Furthermore, with this result, Poland gained 6.26 points to improve their total to 422.61, good for first in the World Rankings. Slovenia, meanwhile, dropped to fifth with 340.39 points after coming out empty-handed for the fifth straight tournament.
Poland, which won gold in 2023, silver in 2021, and bronze in 2019 and 2022, were spearheaded by Wilfredo Leon. The star outside hitter finished the match with 18 points (13 kills, three blocks, two aces).
Leon got support from teammates Tomasz Fornal and Bartosz Kurek, who finished with 11 (six kills, five blocks) and 10 points (eight kills, one block, one ace), respectively.
Klemen Cebulj and Toncek Stern top scored for Slovenia in the loss with 14 (10 kills, three blocks, one ace) and 11 points (all in kills).
Volleyball Nations League dream team, revealed
After the awarding ceremony, the Volleyball Nations League released their version of the Team of the Tournament, which included standouts from France, Japan, and Poland.
Star setter Antoine Brizard was named the MVP and best setter of the 2024 Volleyball Nations League after playing a pivotal role in their gold medal run. He split playing time with team captain Benjamin Toniutti during the Preliminary Phase, but Brizard saw his minutes increase in Łódź, Poland.
The 30-year-old played in each of the 15 matches this tournament, collecting 26 points (nine kills, seven blocks, 10 aces), 250 successful sets (65 of which were in the Finals).
Joining Brizard on the Dream Team were best opposite Jean Patry (France), best outside hitters Yuki Ishikawa (Japan) and Tomasz Fornal (Poland), best middle blockers Nicolas Le Goff (France) and Jakub Kochanowski (Poland), and best libero Tomohiro Yamamoto (Japan).
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