Rookies Croatia claim first-ever VNL victory

Volleyball Nations League history was made on Friday in Brasilia, Brazil, as rookies Croatia secured their first-ever victory in the tournament.

Competing in the VNL for the first time, the Europeans triumphed in their sixth opportunity, overcoming Korea 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-14) at the Nilson Nelson Stadium, in the Brazilian capital.

• Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 live on VBTV

Croatia and Korea started the day as the only teams yet to win a match in the VNL 2023, but the Europeans put that in the past, securing their first three points in the event. Despite the result, they remain in fifth place, but are now just one point behind the Netherlands and two behind Bulgaria and Serbia. Korea remain winless in 16th place.

Middle blocker and team captain Martina Šamadan was a key name in the Croatian victory as she led all scorers with 18 points (12 kills, three aces, three blocks), leading the team in all three scoring categories.

“It’s very important for us to feel those kinds of things and to know we’re capable of doing it,” Šamadan commented. “We had a very bad start in the VNL, but now we got the first win and hopefully we’re going to get some more. We had a very clear plan of what we wanted to do during the match and we just stuck to it. Sometimes we have these really good blocking performances and today was one of those days.”

Outside hitter Dijana Karatović also had a productive performance, registering 11 points, with eight kills, one ace and two blocks.

For Korea, middle blocker Hoyoung Jung was the only one to reach double digits in scoring, ending the match with ten (seven kills, one ace, two blocks).

Croatia’s blocking production was a major factor in their victory as the Europeans outscored the Asians at the net by 14 points to five – they also had the advantage in kills (37 to 36) and opponent errors (18 to 10). Despite the loss, Korea fired seven aces to Croatia’s six.

Croatia will complete their Pool 4 match schedule on Saturday, when they face Serbia at 21:00 local time (00:00 UTC, Sunday). Korea will need to wait until Sunday, at 17:30 local time (20:30 UTC), to play again – they will face Germany.

**Volleyball Nations League 2023: full schedule and results**

In the first match of the day in Brasilia, Germany upset Japan, taking the Asian powerhouse down with a 3-2 (25-23, 14-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-8) victory that made them pass their opponents in the standings, taking over the sixth spot.

Outside hitter Hannah Orthmann was in excellent form in the German victory, tallying 24 points, with 22 kills, one ace and one block. Middle blocker Marie Schözel produced 16 points for the Europeans, with 11 kills and five blocks. Japan had not one, but two players scoring 20+ points in outside hitters Sarina Koga (24) and Arisa Inoue (20).

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