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Volleyball 08/06/2017

World League - Day 4: Sivula and Carroll star as Finland and Australia triumph over Slovakia and China respectively

Urpo Sivula suffered a minor injury and did not play in the first week of the FIVB Volleyball World League, but his return to the line-up on the second week provided a positive result - a 3-0 win over undefeated Slovakia

Lausanne, Switzerland, June 8, 2017 – Urpo Sivula recorded 17 points as Finland collected their first win and Slovakia their first defeat in an historic first ever FIVB Volleyball World League meeting between the two countries as two Group 2 matches started proceedings for the second weekend of the FIVB Volleyball World League 2017.

Finland's 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-19) win at home in Helsinki maintained their undefeated run against Slovakia which dates back to 2012.

Meanwhile, Australia moved up to fifth in the Group 2 rankings after beating China 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-21) in what was also a first ever World League match between the two countries in the earlier match in Helsinki.

A further 52 matches from Group 1, 2 and 3 are set to take place over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

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Group 2

Finland and Australia opened the second week of competition in the World League with straight-set victories.

Sivula was the missing piece of the puzzle for Finland, as his entry to the line-up produced a positive result. Finland struggled to connect in their last three matches in the opening weekend, but their 3-0 home win over undefeated Slovakia is a great indication of their improved performance, which they can use to their advantage in the succeeding matches.

Birthday boy Matej Patak, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Thursday, top scored for Slovakia with 16 points, after scoring a team-high 37 points in the opening weekend.

In the first match of the day in Helsinki, skipper Paul Carroll had a solid game on offence and tallied 16 markers to lead Australia to their second victory in the World League with a straight-set win over China.

His 16 points moves him up to fourth with 64 points from four matches on the Group 2 Best Scorer table behind Jiang Chuan of China (76 points from four matches) who could only manage 11 points against Australia, Metin Toy of Turkey (67 points from three matches) and team mate Nathan Roberts (65 points from four matches) who scored 13 points against China.

Three blocks from Finland's Tommi Siirilä consolidated his position on top of the Best Blockers with a 0.94 blocks per set average ahead of China's Chen Longhai who averages 0.80.

While Jiang's three aces moved him to the top of the Group 2 Best Server statistics with a 0.47 average per set followed by the captain's of Turkey and Portugal - Arslan Eksi and Alexandre Ferreira who average 0.38.

Group 2 competition will continue on June 9, with fixtures in Takasaki in Japan, Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic; and the second day of competition in Helsinki, Finland.

Group 1

Group 1 competition on the second week will take place in Varna in Bulgaria, Tehran in Iran, and Pau, France.

Group 3

Group 3 competition will enter the second week with tournaments in Tallinn in Estonia, Tunis in Tunisia, and Linz in Austria.

Top Scorer by Day

32 - 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)

Top Scoring Performances

32 - Chuan Jiang of China v Turkey on June 2

29 - Tsvetan Sokolov of Bulgaria v Argentina on June 3

29 - Nathan Roberts of Australia v Portugal on June 2

28 - Metin Toy of Turkey v Netherlands on June 4

27 - Evandro Guerra of Brazil v Iran on June 3

Top Individual Serving Performances

6 - Pedro Rangel of Mexico v Greece on June 3

6 - Maxim Zhigalov of Russia v Argentina on June 2

5 - Rafail Koumentakis of Greece v Spain on June 4

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 Performances

12 - Turkey v Netherlands on June 4

11 - Serbia v USA on June 2

10 - Venezuela v Kazakhstan on June 3

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 Performances

7 - Samuel Walker of Australia v Slovakia on June 3

7 - Bozidar Cuk of Montenegro v Tunisia on June 2

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 Performances

21 - Slovenia v Korea on June 3

21 - Montenegro v Tunisia on June 2

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 France on June 3

Highest Scoring Sets

30-28 - Slovakia v Australia on June 3

29-27 - China v Netherlands on June 3

28-26 - Belgium v USA on June 4

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 Matches

222 - Korea v Czech Republic 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 24-26, 25-20, 15-12) on June 2

220 - Turkey v Netherlands 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 24-26, 17-15) on June 4

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

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