EYES ON THE BALL Nimir Abdel-Aziz (3rd L) of the Netherlands tries to return the ball during the match between Brazil and the Netherlands at the Men's Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2024 in Pasay City on June 18, 2024. Xinhua
Gyorgy Grozer scored 21 points as Germany stunned reigning Olympics champion France, 25-23, 25-27, 25-20, 25-23, in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Men's Week 3 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-7 opposite hitter made 18 attacks for the Germans, who have qualified for the upcoming Paris Olympics.
Middle blocker Lukas Maase added 12 points, while opposite hitter Moritz Reichert also had 12 points on 10 attacks and two aces. Tobias Krick and Tobias Brand scored 10 points each.
“I believe that we really had an amazing week in Japan (last leg) that led to this performance and our main players are coming back. We’ve been playing without them. I can see that our game is going up,” coach Michal Winiarski said after the two-hour match.
Jean Patry led France with 20 points, including eight points in the second set.
Trevor Clevenot contributed 16 points, while Yacine Louati chipped in 10 points for the French squad, which took a 21-19 lead in the fourth frame before the Germans scored three straight points to take command.
France managed to tie the count at 23-all but that proved to be its last gallant stand as Germany scored two more points to claim victory.
Meanwhile, host Slovenia clobbered Argentina, 25-23, 25-22 29-27, in the Ljubljana leg which is being held simultaneously with the Manila leg. PNA