Sander Leads USA Men in 3-1 Win Over Bulgaria on #VNL Day 2

  0 Wendy Mayer | May 26th, 2018 | European volleyball, FIVB Nations League - Men, International Volleyball, News, U.S. Men's National Team

2018 FIVB MEN’S VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE – WEEK 1/POOL 2

  • May 25-27, 2018
  • Beilun Gymnasium; Ningbo, China
  • Time Zone: UTC +  (US Eastern Time +12)
  • World Rankings: #2 United States, #7 Argentina, #14 Bulgaria, #20 China
  • Preview
  • Schedule/Results

United States def. Bulgaria 3-1

  • USA defeated Bulgaria 25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20
  • United States moved to 2-0 (5 points); Bulgaria moved to 1-1 (2 points)

The USA bested Bulgaria in every statistical category behind an 18-point effort by Taylor Sander.

Sander turned in a team-best 14 kills, two blocks and two aces. Three other players: Thomas Jaeschke (16), Maxwell Holt (12) and Ben Patch (10) also scored in double-digits. Jaeschke matched Sander with 14 kills and added two aces, while Holt notched nine kills and a team-leading three aces. Patch also put down nine kills. Jeff Jendryk accumulated eight points, with four kills and a team-best four blocks.

Nicolay Uchikov downed 14 kills and added a block to pace Bulgaria with 15 points. Todor Skrimov (10), Viktor Yosifov (9), Rozalin Penchev (8) and Svetoslav Gotsev (7) rounded out the scoring, each tallying six or more kills. Skrimov notched eight kills and two of the team’s three aces. Yosifov added seven kills and a team-leading two blocks, while Penchev recorded six kills and two stuffs.

The Americans led the Bulgarians in kills (52-46), blocks (7-6), aces (9-3) and digs (23-22).

It all came down to Set 4, where the United States had built an 18-12 lead. A Gotsev putaway set up a four-point serving run for Skrimov, including an ace, to slice the margin to one. It was nearly tied at 18-all as Jaeschke was called for double contact, but a U.S. challenge resulted in a replay of the point. A Skrimov service error on the ensuing play gave the U.S. a 19-17 lead and the Americans rolled on to the 25-20 win.

 

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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