The European team, who was VNL silver medalist in 2021 and bronze medalist in 2019, finished this year’s Preliminary Phase on 10-2 and 31 points, just below leader Italy on set ratio.
It suffered one of its two defeats at the hands of Iran in a rollercoaster five-setter played earlier this month in Gdansk, volleyballworld.com reported.
The Asian squad advanced to its second VNL Finals as the seventh-placed team on 7-5 and 20. It achieved its best result in the competition in 2019, when it finished the first stage in second place, but then dropped to fifth in the final standings.
In the semifinals, the winner of Italy vs. Netherlands will take on the winner of France vs. Japan, and the winner of Poland vs. Iran will take on the winner of the US vs. Brazil.