Stephen Boyer (centre) is congratulated by his teammates
Lausanne, Switzerland, June 20, 2017 - Arguably one of the most impressive players in the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League Preliminary Round, Stephen Boyer is the competition's top scorer with 165 points, and is also the best server in Group 1.
The youngster, who has a powerful leap, is also second in the list of top spikers with a success rate of 53.15 per cent - just behind Serbia’s Marko Ivovic (53.94 per cent). Ivovic was the MVP in his team’s historic 3-0 victory over Brazil in last year’s final.
Boyer will get a chance to follow in Ivovic’s footsteps when this year's Finals take place in Curitiba, Brazil from July 4 to 8. France go into the Finals as one of the favourites for the title, after securing first place in the Preliminary Round.
Another French star - Earvin Ngapeth - will take his place alongside Boyer in Brazil, following a successful comeback. The hitter was the MVP when the French team won the World League in 2015.
“It’s easy for us young players, because we were welcomed by a whole group of experienced players,” said Boyer, pointing out the importance of solidarity within the French team.
France coach Laurent Tillie added: “I am very satisfied with this tournament so far. I gave playing time to several players, like Earvin Ngapeth, last week. Stephen Boyer played very well in his first few matches of this year’s World League. We now have one week of rest and one week working again before the Finals.”
Also in the Finals this year will be hosts Brazil, who will aim to add a historic tenth World League title to their collection. The mastermind behind this plan is playmaker Bruno Mossa Rezende, statistically the top setter in Group 1. He was also a key member of the Brazil squad which won Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro last year, and is now looking to repeat that feat in front of the fantastic Brazilian fans in the Finals of the FIVB World League in Curitiba.
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He will be ably assisted by Mauricio Borges – statistically the best receiver among the top twelve teams in the world. He is also third in the list of best diggers, which is led by Polish libero Pavel Zatorski (2.14 average per set).
Best blocker with an average by set of 0.83 is Bulgaria’s Nikolay Nikolov. However, like world champions Poland, his team missed out on a place in the Final Six.
Despite a poor start, the USA did manage to qualify for the final round at the last minute – thanks, above all, to Taylor Sander. With 146 points to his name, he was second behind France’s Boyer in the list of top scorers in Group 1. Sander was the MVP when USA won the World League in 2014 and is one of a long list of stars who will be in action in the final round of the 2017 World League in Brazil.
The accolade for the most points in one match during the first three weeks of the competition went to China’s Chuan Jiang. He racked up 32 points against Turkey. With 164 points to his name, Chuan Tiang is the top scorer in Group 2. Despite his best efforts, however, China missed out on the Group 2 Finals. These will be held on Australia’s Gold Coast on June 24 and 25 and will see hosts Australia take on Group 2 Preliminary Round winners Slovenia, the Netherlands and Japan.
Based on the statistics for the top players in the Preliminary Round, Japan and the Netherlands should do well in the Group 2 Finals. The Japanese top three lists: Masahiro Yanagida is the best spiker (58.33 per cent success rate) and best server (0.51 average by set) in Group 2, while Naonobu Fujii is the best setter with an average by set of 10.15, making him the top setter in all three groups.
The Dutch have the best digger, Dirk Sparidans, and the top receiver, Robert Andringa in Group 2. They also boast the second-highest scorer from the twelve teams in Group 2, in the form of Wouter Ter Maat (151 points).
In Group 3, the winners have already been crowned. World League debutants Estonia sensationally defeated Spain to claim honours in Group 3. The key to their success was some outstanding blocking. Two Estonians topped the list of best blockers: Ardo Kreek was top dog among all 36 teams with an average by set of 0.83, while Andri Aganits was second in the list. Top scorer in Group 3 was Spain’s Andres Villena with 124 points. However, this was not enough to prevent a three-set defeat to Estonia in the final. Ardo Kreek was the star man with five stuff blocks and a total of 14 points.
Best Scorers Group 1:
Best Scorers Group 2: 
Best Scorers Group 3:
Top Scorer by Day32 - Chuan Jiang of China v Turkey on June 2
29 - Tsvetan Sokolov of Bulgaria v Argentina on June 3
28 - Metin Toy of Turkey v Netherlands on June 4
17 - Urpo Sivula of Finland v Slovakia on June 8 (only two matches)
27 - Maxim Michshenko of Kazakhstan v Tunisia on June 9
25 - Hamza Nagga of Tunisia v Chinese Taipei on June 10
31 – Giulio Sabbi of Italy v Russia on June 11
24 – Benjamin Patch of USA v Iran on June 15 (only two matches)
27 – Paul Carroll of Australia v Japan on June 16
28 – Taylor Sander of USA v Russia on June 17
26 – Yuki Ishikawa of Japan v China on June 18
Top Scoring Performances32 - Chuan Jiang of China v Turkey on June 2
31 – Giulio Sabbi of Italy v Russia on June 11
29 - Tsvetan Sokolov of Bulgaria v Argentina on June 3
29 - Nathan Roberts of Australia v Portugal on June 2
28 – Taylor Sander of USA v Russia on June 17
28 - Metin Toy of Turkey v Netherlands on June 4
27 – Paul Carroll of Australia v Japan on June 16
27 - Maxim Michshenko of Kazakhstan v Tunisia on June 9
27 - Evandro Guerra of Brazil v Iran on June 3
Top Individual Serving Performances7 - Ahmed Abdelhay of Egypt v Czech Republic on June 9
6 – Mauricio Souza of Brazil v Serbia on June 18
6 – Alen Sket of Slovenia v Portugal on June 18
6 – Thibault Rossard of France v Italy on June 16
6 – Valdir Sequeira of Portugal v Finland on June 16
6 - Pedro Rangel of Mexico v Greece on June 3
6 - Maxim Zhigalov of Russia v Argentina on June 2
5 – Masahiro Yanagida of Japan v Turkey on June 17
5 – Dmitriy Volkov of Russia v Poland on June 15
5 - Masahiro Yanagida of Japan v Slovenia on June 10
5 - Rafail Koumentakis of Greece v Spain on June 4
4 – Lourenco Martins of Portugal v Egypt on June 17
4 – Chuan Jiang of China v Australia on June 17
4 – Luciano De Cecco of Argentina v Serbia on June 16
4 – Iacopo Botto of Italy v France on June 16
4 – Cristian Poglajen of Argentina v Iran on June 11
4 – Wouter Ter Maat of Netherlands v Egypt on June 11
4 – Menelaos Kokkinakis of Greece v Estonia on June 11
4 – Egor Feoktistov of Russia v Italy on June 11
4 – Dmitriy Volkov of Russia v Italy on June 11
4 – Iacopo Botto of Italy v Russia on June 11
4 - Pedro Rangel of Mexico v Austria on June 10
4 - Aleksandr Minic of Montenegro v Kazakhstan on June 10
4 - Klemen Cebulj of Slovenia v Japan on June 10
4 - Sergey Antipkin of Russia v France on June 9
4 - Farhad Ghaemi of Iran v Belgium on June 9
4 - John Gordon Perrin of Canada v Brazil on June 9
4 - Lincoln Alexander Williams of Australia v Slovakia on June 9
4 - Nicolai Grabmueller of Austria v Kazakhstan on June 4
4 - John Gordon Perrin of Canada v USA on June 3
4 - Bartlomiej Lemanski of Poland v Italy on June 3
4 - Marko Ivovic of Serbia v USA on June 2
Top Team Serving Performances14 – Portugal v Finland on June 16
12 – Portugal v Egypt on June 17
12 – Italy v Russia on June 11
12 - Egypt v Czech Republic on June 9
12 - Turkey v Netherlands on June 4
11 – Slovenia v Portugal on June 18
11 – France v Italy on June 16
11 - Serbia v USA on June 2
10 – Brazil v Serbia on June 18
10 – Canada v Belgium on June 16
10 - Venezuela v Kazakhstan on June 3
9 – France v Belgium on June 18
9 – Italy v France on June 16
9 - Canada v Serbia on June 4
9 - Serbia v Canada on June 4
9 - Belgium v USA on June 4
9 - USA v Canada on June 3
Top Individual Blocking Performances9 - Peter Ondrovic of Slovakia v China on June 10
7 - Graham Vigrass of Canada v Bulgaria on June 10
7 - Nikolay Nikolov of Bulgaria v Canada on June 10
7- Simon Van De Voorde of Belgium v Argentina on June 10
7 - Samuel Walker of Australia v Slovakia on June 3
7 - Bozidar Cuk of Montenegro v Tunisia on June 2
6 – Mohamed Masoud of Egypt v Finland on June 18
6 – Jasper Diefenbach of Netherlands v Czech Republic on June 18
6 – Michael Parkinson of Netherlands v Czech Republic on June 18
6 – Chuan Jiang of China v Japan on June 18
6 – Nikolay Nikolov of Bulgaria v Serbia on June 17
6 – Ilyas Kurkaev of Russia v USA on June 17
6 – Matteo Piano of Italy v France on June 16
6 - Hamza Nagga of Tunisia v Montenegro on June 11
6 – Ardo Kreek of Estonia v Greece on June 11
6 - Denis Biriukov of Russia v Bulgaria on June 4
6 - Emerson Gonzalez of Venezuela v Kazakhstan on June 3
6 - Filip Cveticanin of Portugal v Japan on June 3
6 - Ales Holubec of Czech Republic v Finland on June 3
6 - Alen Pajenk of Slovenia v Korea on June 3
Top Team Blocking Performances21 – Bulgaria v Serbia on June 17
21 – Qatar v Venezuela on June 11
21 - Slovakia v China on June 10
21 - Slovenia v Korea on June 3
21 - Montenegro v Tunisia on June 2
18 – Tunisia v Montenegro on June 11
18 - Russia v Bulgaria on June 4
18 - Australia v Slovakia on June 3
18 - Czech Republic v Finland on June 3
17 – Russia v USA on June 17
17 – Italy v France on June 16
17 - Russia v France on June 3
Highest Scoring Sets45-43 – Qatar v Venezuela on June 11
43-41 – China v Turkey on June 16
39-37 – Slovakia v Egypt on June 16
33-31 – Italy v Russia on June 11
31-29 – Poland v USA on June 18
31-29 – Russia v USA on June 17
30-28 – Argentina v Serbia on June 16
30-28 – USA v Iran on June 15
30-28 - Kazakhstan v Tunisia on June 9
30-28 - Slovakia v Australia on June 3
30-28 - Canada v Bulgaria on June 10
29-27 – USA v Russia on June 17
29-27 – Australia v Japan on June 16
29-27 – Spain v Austria on June 11
29-27 – Iran v Argentina on June 11
29-27 – Venezuela v Qatar on June 11
29-27 - Qatar v Greece on June 10
29-27 - China v Netherlands on June 3
28-26 – Czech Republic v Netherlands on June 18
28-26 – China v Japan on June 18
28-26 – Turkey v Slovenia on June 11
28-26 - Germany v Spain on June 10
28-26 - Belgium v USA on June 4
27-25 – Korea v Czech Republic on June 17
27-25 – Italy v Belgium on June 17
27-25 – Poland v Canada on June 11
27-25 - Japan v Turkey on June 9
27-25 - Bulgaria v Russia on June 4
27-25 - Mexico v Qatar on June 4
27-25 - France v Argentina on June 4
27-25 - Netherlands v Egypt on June 2
27-25 - Tunisia v Montenegro on June 2
27-25 - Netherlands v Egypt on June 2
27-25 - Slovakia v Japan on June 2
Highest Scoring Matches231 – Italy v Russia 2-3 (33-31, 23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 10-15) on June 11
230 – USA v Russia – 2-3 (29-31, 25-17, 19-25, 29-27, 13-15) on June 17
223 – Qatar v Venezuela 3-1 (27-29, 25-16, 45-43, 25-13) on June 11
223 – Serbia v Argentina 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 25-22, 28-30, 15-12) on June 16
222 - Korea v Czech Republic 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 24-26, 25-20, 15-12) on June 2
220 – China v Japan 3-2 (20-25, 28-26, 17-25, 25-22, 17-15) on June 18
220 – Iran v Argentina 3-2 (29-25, 25-20, 20-25, 23-25,15-11) on June 11
220 - Turkey v Netherlands 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 24-26, 17-15) on June 4
219 – Australia v Japan 3-2 (29-27, 18-25, 24-26, 25-21, 15-9) on June 16
219 - Czech Republic v Egypt 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 16-14) on June 9
219 - Korea v Finland 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 15-13) on June 4
219 - Australia v Portugal 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 20-18) on June 2
217 - Belgium v Canada 2-3 (22-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-23, 13-15) on June 2
215 - Turkey v China 3-2 (25-22, 25-20, 21-25, 24-26, 15-12) on June 2
214 - Bulgaria v Argentina 2-3 (23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 12-15) on June 3
213 – Bulgaria v Serbia 3-2 (25-18, 20-25, 25-23, 24-25, 15-12) on June 17
212 - Belgium v Argentina 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 24-26, 15-6) on June 10