France or US to top Pool C at end of FIVB Volleyball World League weekend matches?
The second round of the 2012 FIVB Volleyball World League – Men has come to its close but the participating teams are preparing for the third round that is set to start from Friday June 22, 2012. A total of 12 teams out of 16 now remain to battle it out during the coming weekend which will mark the eighth weekend of the championship.
Already in the final round of the tournament, are the Polish and the Bulgarian squads. Bulgaria has had the privilege to be in the final round as it is the home team with the final round matches to be played in Sofia, Bulgaria. On the other hand, the Polish squad earned their ticket by being at the top of the Pool B.
Pool C is currently being led by the United States. The other three teams in the pool along with the US are France, Italy as well as Korea.
Both US and France have earned themselves 11 points in the championship up till now by winning four matches and losing two. Despite the fact that both US and France enjoy the same number of points so far in the tournament, the US had managed to remain ahead due to a higher set ratio. The US team was able to win 13 sets and lose 10 to tally a ratio of 1.300 while the French squad won 14 but lost 11 and ended up with a set ratio of 1.273.
On the other hand, the third place in Pool C goes to Italy with nine points in the bag secured by winning three matches and losing the same amount as well. The Koreans find themselves at the bottom of the pool with five points obtained by tallying one win and five losses.
The French and the US players will be looking forward to meet each other in the upcoming weekend as the last match that both the teams played in the tournament was with each other. The French will look to avenge their loss while the US will want to assert their dominance once again.
The competition that had taken place between the two sides on June 17 ended in a win for US by 3-1. The score board showed the following final set scores: 20-25, 25-22, 25-19 and 25-21.
The coach of the US team, John Speraw, expressed his happiness at the win in the following manner, “It’s a very nice week-end with three wins, it’s very good for us. A lot of teams took the opportunity to play with young guys. Obviously we did too for example with Sean Rooney and he plays very well, that’s very good for us. We have also a nice contribution of guys from the bench.”
On the other hand, the coach of the French squad, Philippe Blain, shared his views at the outcome of the match in the following words, “Tonight we did an excellent start with a lot of energy…With six points won, my team did the job this week-end. I am satisfied.”
The first match of the weekend for the US will be against the Italians on June 22 while the contest with the French will be on the next day. By the time the weekend reaches its close, either US or France could be at the top of the pool.
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