France's top scorer Julien Lyneel attempts a block at his side challenging win over USA
Curitiba, Brazil, July 4, 2017 - With the scoring power of Julien Lyneel, France ended up as the winning side after a nail-biting battle against USA by 3-2 (27-25, 20-25, 26-24, 17-25, 15-12) on the last Tuesday game at 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League Finals in Brazil.
Left-handed wing spiker Lyneel had a fabulous output at the final set and became the game’s top scorer with 20 points, while opposite Stephen Boyer followed him one point behind. On USA, rising star Benjamin Patch was the brightest star with 18 tallies and Taylor Sander scored 14 times.
Pool play leaders France extended their positive World League streak to 9-1 with the win and managed to get a glimpse of the semifinals, while USA’s hopes require a win over defending champions Serbia on Wednesday evening at 5.40 PM (local).
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The match began uphill for Les Bleus as USA led for a long while on the first set, but a one-man show by Ngapeth made his side smile at the end. However, the match turned into a seesaw battle as the American team immediately reacted, France moved forward again and the story repeated itself afterwards, this time courtesy of Sander & Co. At the decisive fifth, Barthélémy Chinenyeze’s serves helped France to recover from a 5-2 disadvantage and then it was Lyneel who stepped forward to seal the deal.