USA vs. Japan, Germany vs. Poland as Volleyball Nations League quarterfinals begin

ARLINGTON, Texas — Not that things haven’t mattered up to this point, but one year and two weeks from now the USA women will play in the Paris Olympics.

So game on here in the heart of Texas as the Volleyball Nations League quarterfinals get underway Wednesday at the University of Texas Arlington’s College Park Center.

The top two teams from the three preliminary rounds are in action when top-seeded Poland (10-2) plays Germany (7-5) at 4 p,m. Central and then the USA (10-2) plays Japan (7-5) at 6:30.

Thursday, Brazil (8-4) faces China (8-4) and Türkiye (9-3) plays Italy (8-4). The semifinals are Saturday and the medal matches Sunday.

“It’s a big deal in itself,” USA coach Karch Kiraly said. “We’re proud that we were able to win the first three (rounds). We had a disappointment last year, losing in the first round of the single-elimination quarterfinal (in five to Serbia). We’d like to have a better showing this year. Certainly Japan stands in our way. That’s a great, great team across the net.

“But not only is it the biggest annual event of its own right, it leads into Olympic qualification and into the Olympics themselves just about a year from now. So the results and the performances here have a short-, medium- and long-term effect.”

The Americans were 6-0 when they played Japan on June 17 in Brasilia, Brazil, and lost 23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 15-6. Japan is smaller and to say it’s scrappy might be an understatement. 

“We might need five, seven, 10 swings to get the ball to the floor,” Kiraly said. “So we have to be prepared for very long rallies. They play incredible defense.”

In that loss, Danielle Cuttino led the USA with 17 kills, but she is not here as part of the 14-player VNL roster. Khalia Lanier, who had 15 kills, and Avery Skinner, who had 12, are. Here’s the team:

Setters: Micha Hancock, Lauren Carlini

Outside hitters: Kelsey Robinson Cook, Alli Frantti, Lanier, Skinner

Middle blockers: Chiaka Ogbogu, Asjia O’Neal, Dana Rettke, Haleigh Washington

Opposites: Annie Drews, Jordan Thompson

Liberos: Morgan Hentz, Justine Wong-Orantes

Clearly this is the A Team. Even the injured Olympic star and veteran Jordan Larsen is with the team to lend support, and so, too, is Ashley Evans, here as insurance for Tuesday’s practice as Kiraly had until Tuesday night to submit his final roster. Carlini has a pulled right quadiceps, but answered the bell and then some in practice.

Of the 14, seven were on the team that won gold in the Tokyo Olympics, Hancock, Drews, Thompson, Ogbogu, Washington, Cook and Wong-Orantes.

Throughout the first three rounds, the USA brought different players and had different lineups each time. For that matter, the lineup against Japan will be unlike any in the previous 12 matches.

“Most teams know their 14 and starting seven for years. Some teams have played the same seven every single match. We have not done that one in these 12 matches. We’re here to foster depth and growth and give people experience,” Kiraly said. 

That’s particularly evident in the VNL stats. For example, despite having the best record, Drews has the most USA kills with 84, which puts in 42nd place for the first 12 matches.

Added Hancock: “We’ve had a lot of new faces, so it’s just been fun to see what people can do and what they bring and get after it with each other. ”

In the case of the USA, some of the veterans, for example, were left home to rest after long pro seasons. Some were nursiing injuries. But it gave plenty of newcomers opportunities, and now, for example, Lanier, Skinner and O’Neal, all VNL first-timers, have taken advantage.

O’Neal, for one, still has a season left at Texas, where she won the NCAA title last season. The 6-foot-3, 23-year-old practiced in the USA gym last year and was hoping to again.

“I reached out to Karch in probably March-ish, because I trained last summer. I wasn’t on the roster, just there training, and told him if there was any opportunity to get in the gym I would love to be there,” O’Neal said. 

Kiraly told her, she said, there wasn’t space at the time. But in April he called and told her she was welcome to join the program in Anaheim. But that was still a far cry from playing in the VNL quarterfinals.

“I’m on my way,” she told him.

Actually, it was about a month later, and she’s been hitting on all cylinders ever since.

“She has no weaknesses and she’s poised and unflappable,” Kiraly said. “She is playing beyond her years, that’s for sure.”

O’Neal is one of three Texans on the team. She’s from Southlake, about 20 miles from here. Ogbogu, who also played at Texas, is from Coppell, also about 20 miles away. 

And Skinner, who won an NCAA title at Kentucky and then finished at Baylor in Waco, Texas, is from Katy, which is outside of Houston. She was thrown into the first match of VNL, a five-set win over Serbia, and has 70 kills, third on the team. Jordan Thompson has 74.

“My mindset going in was just to play,” Skinner said. “Just play as free as I possibly could because for sure there’s pressure coming into the gym, but I knew that I would play my best if I would go out there and play like there was no pressure.”

POLAND VS. GERMANY: Poland beat Germany on June 29 in Korea 15-25, 25-19, 25-19, 19-25, 17-15. Magdalena Stysiak had 19 kills, two blocks and an ace for Poland, and Agnieszka Korneluk added 10 kills and five blocks.

“It’s always a tough game with Germany and will be again,” said Korneluk, a professional teammate of Hancock’s in Poland. “We have to forget about the last game and just focus on our volleyball.”

Germany is playing, as we say, with house money. It got into the final eight, barely, after losing its last three matches, to Poland, Serbia and the USA. In that last match against Poland, Lina Alsmeier had 20 kills and two blocks and Hanna Orthmann had 16 kills, two blocks and an ace.

Their Belgian coach, Vital Heynen, was almost giddy about his team after practice Tuesday.

“We are so happy to be here,” Heynen said. “I mean, 2009 was the last time Germany was in the finals of the VNL or Grand Prix, so of course it’s amazing. None of my players have ever been in this situation. Of course they are happy.”

Germany had only one so-called bad loss in this tournament, getting swept by China. 

“What I want is to play good,” Heynen said. “Don’t talk about results. Results is a consequence. If you play every week good, you will get good results.”

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