The U.S. men’s national team outblocked France 14-6 but it wasn’t enough as the Americans lost the Volleyball Nations League Week 4 match, 25-23, 22-25, 31-29, 25-22, in Rimini, Italy, on Wednesday.
The U.S. (5-6) plays the Netherlands (Stijn van Tilburg, Hawai’i) on Thursday (6 a.m HST).
Kawaika Shoji (‘Iolani) got his fourth start at setter, finishing with 33 assists, 9 digs, 3 kills (3-0-4) and 1 block.
Libero Erik Shoji (Punahou) had a match-high 14 digs. Setter Micah Christenson dressed but didn’t play. Middle Taylor Averill (Hawai’i) did not dress.
In other results Wednesday,
Bulgaria was swept by Slovenia, 25-20, 25-17, 25-17. Rado Parapunov, playing at opposite, had 13 points on 11 kills (11-5-21) and 2 blocks.
Italy defeated the Netherlands, 25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21. Stijn van Tilburg (Hawai’i) dressed but didn’t play.
Earlier Thursday, Bulgaria was swept by Russia, 25-17, 25-22, 25-17.
Parapunov had 1 kill (1-3-9), 1 block and 1 ace.
Great video featuring a ton of Stijn Van Tilburg highlights from Netherlands’ 5-set loss to the USA…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7dV9p4QP9E
Stijn had quite a good match statistically, including some nice aces
thank you for the link