Sunday 9 July 2017
And another World League season has come to an end: France won their 2nd FIVB World League title today at Curitiba, Brazil. This achievement is a big boost for #TeamYavbou after their dismal performance in Rio 2016. This is a hefty accomplishment, however, given their long history of being in Group 2 - they managed to get two World League titles in just two years after being promoted to Group 1 in 2015.
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| image from FIVB.com |
The lineup that France mostly used this final leg is a pretty new team (only Ngapeth, Toniutti, Grebennikov and Le Roux are the holdovers, although Le Goff is still in the lineup), which shows how much upside the team has. Kevin Tillie, who’s one of their best defenders, isn’t in the lineup. Clevenot proved to be a revelation as the young outside hitter started in the final match (without starting in any of the games in the final leg). He was instrumental in France’s climb to the final leg since he was also used in the eliminations (over Lyneel).
Brazil had everything to win the title - the players and even the crowd behind them. It was really a toss coin in the last set. To be fair, their lineup isn’t what we’re used to seeing. Wallace and Lucarelli brought their best ‘til the end - it’s just that their middle blockers are lacking firepower.
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| image from FIVB.com |
Canada and USA’s fight for the Bronze Medal was also a really good match. Who would have thought Canada will be in the final leg? Their coach Stephane Antiga brought them here after beefing up the Poland squad a few years back. This resulted to Canada winning their first ever World League medal.Despite the loss, USA still has something to be proud of. No Aarron Russell, David Smith, Matt Anderson, and Max Holt? They only had Micah Christenson, Erik Shoji and Taylor Sander with a mix of young guns in their current World League lineup. That’s what you get if you have a very good volleyball system - they can still manage to put up a contender team even without the whole first six! Let’s all wait for Benjamin Patch, he is such a good opposite hitter at 18 years old.
Lastly, Italy’s performance has relegated them to Group 2, what is up with that? They didn’t have Zaytsev and Juantorena and they only won 1 game. Simone Giannelli, even with his setting skills couldn’t lift this team up without good chemistry. They were really struggling even with the supposed “easy” opponents.
To review the final standing and awardees:
1
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France
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7
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Belgium
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2
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Brazil
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8
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Poland
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3
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Canada
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9
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Bulgaria
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4
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USA
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10
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Argentina
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5
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Serbia
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11
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Iran
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6
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Russia
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12
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Italy
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MVP:
Earvin N'Gapeth (FRA)
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Best MBs:
Graham Vigrass (CAN)
Kévin Le Roux (FRA)
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Best Setter:
Benjamin Toniutti (FRA)
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Best OP:
Wallace de Souza (BRA)
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Best OHs:
Ricardo Lucarelli Souza (BRA)
Earvin N'Gapeth (FRA)
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Best L:
Blair Bann (CAN)
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