The final matchday of the men’s volleyball tournament is underway with eight teams playing their final matches of pool play Friday.
Many teams need big results to secure their places in the knockout round or even just to give themselves a chance.
No team needed a win more than Brazil, which has just a single point after the first two matches. The U.S. men are also in action trying to avoid a second-straight exit before the knockout rounds.
Pool B: Brazil 3, Egypt 0
Brazil was in desperate need of a win and it showed against Egypt, as the six-time medalists left no doubt with arguably the most dominant win on either side of the tournament so far.
They attacked the Egyptians right from the start in a stunning 25-11 first-set win. Brazil smothered Egypt with lethal attacking, going 9/18 in the first set.
The rest of the match was no different, with Brazil in complete control throughout both the second and third sets, which they won 25-13 and 25-16.
There was no one player that stood out above the rest for Brazil, with three players scoring in double figures and an efficient attack all around. Darlan Souza was the highest scorer in the match with 15 points, including a huge spike to kill off the match. Lucarelli (13) and Leal (10) joined him in double figures. On the night Brazil was an incredible 40/68 in attack, 10/36 on blocks and had 29 digs compared to nine for Egypt.
Brazil now sits in third place in Pool B with four points, and needs Canada to beat Serbia on the final matchday Saturday in order to be one of the two best third-place teams and advance to the knockout rounds.
Pool C: Germany 3, Argentina 0
Germany and Argentina kicked off the third matchday of the 2024 Paris Olympics volleyball tournament and it was not much of a contest.
The Germans dominated from start to finish en route to a clean sweep of Argentina.
They dominated the first set with one of the most convincing victories of the tournament so far, a 25-13 rout. The second and third sets were slightly closer but still dominated by Germany, with the Germans taking each by a score of 25-21.
Germany’s breakout star at these games has been Gyorgy Grozer and he was the man once again against Argentina, posting a match-high 16 points on 11/21 swings and 4/11 blocking. The German defense was stout with nine blocks and 24 digs.
The win puts Germany on six points, which gets them through to the quarterfinals. The United States faces Japan in the final match in Pool C, and there is a scenario where all three teams end up on six points which would make things very interesting.
As for Argentina, this tournament will go down as a huge disappointment as it follows up a bronze medal in Tokyo by crashing out without a single point in Pool C.
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