2021 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League explained

Competition:	FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League
Gender:	Men
Continent:	World
Year:	2021
Host:	Italy
City:	Rimini
Dates:	28 May – 27 June
Teams:	16
Confederations:	4
Venues:	Rimini Fiera
Cities:	1
Champions:	BRA
Title Number:	1
Second:	POL
Third:	FRA
Fourth:	SLO
Setter:	Fabian Drzyzga
Libero:	Thales Hoss
Matches:	124
Attendance:	0
Website:	Volleyball Nations League
Last:	2019 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League
Next:	2022 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League

The 2021 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League was the third edition of the FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League, an annual men's international volleyball tournament. The 2021 version of VNL was scheduled to start earlier than the previous edition due to the 2020 Summer Olympics in July. The competition was held between May and June 2021, and the final round took place in Rimini Fiera, Rimini, Italy.^{[1] [2]}

Brazil claimed their first VNL title after beating Poland in four sets.^[3] France swept Slovenia in three sets and grabbed the bronze medal.^[4] Both Wallace de Souza from Brazil and Bartosz Kurek from Poland named as MVPs of the tournament.^[5]

Qualification

In the 2019 edition sixteen teams qualified for the competition. Twelve of them qualified as core teams which could not face relegation. Other four teams were selected as challenger teams which could be relegated from the tournament. Slovenia as winner of 2019 Challenger Cup earned the right to participate in this tournament replacing Portugal, the last placed challenger team after the 2019 edition. This year there won’t be any promotion or relegation and the 16 participants will also compete in the 2022 edition.^{[6] [7]}

Netherlands replaced China after the decision of the Chinese Volleyball Association to withdraw its national men's team due to financial limitations and travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8]

Country	Confederation	Designation	Previous appearances			Previous best performance
			Total	First	Last
	CSV	Core team	2	2018	2019	7th place (2019)
	AVC	Challenger team	2	2018	2019	13th place (2018, 2019)
	CSV	Core team	2	2018	2019	4th place (2018, 2019)
	CEV	Challenger team	2	2018	2019	11th place (2018)
	NORCECA	Challenger team	2	2018	2019	7th place (2018)
	AVC	Core team	2	2018	2019	15th place (2018)
	CEV	Core team	2	2018	2019	Runners-up (2018)
	CEV	Core team	2	2018	2019	9th place (2018)
	AVC	Core team	2	2018	2019	5th place (2019)
	CEV	Core team	2	2018	2019	8th place (2018, 2019)
	AVC	Core team	2	2018	2019	10th place (2019)
	CEV	Challenger team	0	None	None
	CEV	Core team	2	2018	2019	3rd place (2019)
	CEV	Core team	2	2018	2019	Champions (2018, 2019)
	CEV	Core team	2	2018	2019	5th place (2018)
	CEV	Challenger team	0	None	None
	NORCECA	Core team	2	2018	2019	Runners-up (2019)

Format

Preliminary round

The 16 teams compete in a round-robin format. The teams play 3 matches each week and compete five weeks long, for 120 matches. The top four teams after the preliminary round compete in the final round.^[2]

Final round

The four qualified teams play knock-out round. The semifinals winners advance to compete for the Nations League title. The losers face each other in the third place match.

Secure bubble

As to ensure athletes were able to compete and the games were conducted safely, the 2021 VNL was played under a secure bubble. After the game, a total of 2,250 PCR and 7,920 antigen tests were performed and only one registered COVID-19 case was found.^[9]

Venue

All matches
Rimini, Italy
Rimini Fiera
Capacity: Unknown

Competition schedule

●

Preliminary round

●

Final round

Pool standing procedure

1. Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost)
2. In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker will apply: The teams will be ranked by the most points gained per match as follows:
   • Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser
   • Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser
   • Match forfeited: 3 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser
3. If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, then the FIVB will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order:
   • Sets quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all sets won by the number of all sets lost.
   • Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the sets quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets.
   • If the tie persists based on the points quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. When the tie in points quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.

Squads

See main article: 2021 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League squads. The 16 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 25 players, which every week's 14-player roster must be selected from. Each country must declare its 14-player roster two days before the start of each week's round-robin competition.

Preliminary round

• All times are Central European Summer Time .

Ranking

Week 5

Final round

• All times are Central European Summer Time .

Final

Final standing

width=40	Rank	width=180	Team
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Source: VNL 2021 final standings

14–man roster
Bruno Rezende (c), Maurício Borges Silva, Fernando Kreling, Wallace de Souza, Yoandy Leal, Isac Santos, Maurício Souza, Douglas Souza, Maique Nascimento, Lucas Saatkamp, Thales Hoss, Ricardo Lucarelli, Alan Souza, Flávio Gualberto
Head coach
Carlos Schwanke

Awards

• Most Valuable Players

• Best setter

• Best outside spikers

• Best middle blockers

• Best opposite spikers

• Best libero

Statistics leaders

Preliminary round

Statistics leaders correct at the end of preliminary round.^[10]

Best Scorers
	width=158	Player	width=20	Attacks	width=20	Blocks	width=20	Serves	width=20	Total
1	Nimir Abdel-Aziz	218	10	36	264
2	Klemen Čebulj	183	17	14	215
3	Maksim Mikhaylov	167	17	17	201
4	Marko Ivović	158	12	20	190
5	Alessandro Michieletto	152	19	10	181

Best Attackers
	width=158	Player	width=20	Spikes	width=20	Faults	width=20	Shots	width=20		width=20
1	Nimir Abdel-Aziz	218	77	113	53.43	408
2	Klemen Čebulj	200	56	168	47.17	424
3	Maksim Mikhaylov	167	45	111	51.70	323
4	Marko Ivović	158	35	111	51.97	304
5	Tonček Štern	154	61	97	49.36	312

Best Blockers
	width=158	Player	width=20		width=20	Faults	width=20	Rebounds	widtg=20		width=20
1	Marko Podraščanin	44	66	51	2.93	161
2	Petar Krsmanović	32	63	52	2.13	147
3	Mohammad Mousavi	30	50	28	2.14	108
4	Nicolas Le Goff	28	34	46	1.65	108
5	Tobias Krick	28	43	53	2.00	124

Best Servers
	width=158	Player	width=20	Aces	width=20	Faults	width=20	Hits	width=20		width=20
1	Nimir Abdel-Aziz	36	55	94	3.00	185
2	Wilfredo León	32	36	69	2.46	137
3	Marko Ivović	20	35	168	1.33	223
4	Dražen Luburić	19	44	62	1.27	125
5	Ruben Schott	18	40	120	1.20	178

Best Setters
	width=158	Player	width=20		width=20	Faults	width=20		width=20		width=20
1	Gregor Ropret	407	6	803	23.94	1216
2	Nikola Jovović	315	5	663	21.00	983
3	Jan Zimmermann	311	10	842	20.73	1163
4	Luciano De Cecco	286	5	564	19.07	855
5	Bruno Rezende	282	3	624	16.59	909

Best Diggers
	width=158	Player	width=20	Digs	width=20	Faults	width=20	Receptions	align=20		width=20
1	Fabio Balaso	161	48	25	10.73	234
2	Jani Kovačič	150	60	7	8.82	217
3	Julian Zenger	141	58	23	9.40	222
4	Jenia Grebennikov	137	50	19	9.79	206
5	Luke Perry	129	39	14	8.60	182

Best Receivers
	width=158	Player	width=20	Excellents	width=20	Faults	width=20		width=20		width=20
1	Marko Ivović	123	23	161	40.07	307
2	Klemen Čebulj	123	21	218	33.98	362
3	Julian Zenger	121	20	190	36.56	331
4	Ruben Schott	113	19	150	40.07	282
5	Jani Kovačič	109	18	163	37.59	290

Final round

Statistics leaders correct at the end of final round.^[11]

Best Scorers
	width=158	Player	width=20	Attacks	width=20	Blocks	width=20	Serves	width=20	Total
1	Yoandy Leal	34	1	2	37
2	Wallace De Souza	29	4	2	35
3	Bartosz Kurek	29	5	0	34
4	Tonček Štern	18	3	3	24
5	Earvin N'Gapeth	18	1	4	23

Best Attackers
	width=158	Player	width=20	Spikes	width=20	Faults	width=20	Shots	width=20		width=20
1	Yoandy Leal	34	5	23	54.84	62
2	Wallace De Souza	29	9	12	58.00	50
3	Bartosz Kurek	29	6	14	59.18	49
4	Tine Urnaut	21	7	10	55.26	38
5	Ricardo Lucarelli	19	6	13	50.00	38

Best Blockers
	width=158	Player	width=20		width=20	Faults	width=20	Rebounds	width=20		width=20
1	Maurício Souza	9	9	10	4.50	28
2	Bartosz Kurek	5	4	2	2.50	11
3	Wallace De Souza	4	3	10	2.00	17
4	Antoine Brizard	4	0	3	2.00	7
5	Nicolas Le Goff	4	2	4	2.00	10

Best Servers
	width=158	Player	width=20	Aces	width=20	Faults	width=20	Hits	width=20		width=20
1	Earvin N'Gapeth	4	8	17	2.00	29
2	Wilfredo León	3	5	21	1.50	29
3	Fabian Drzyzga	3	4	21	1.50	28
4	Tonček Štern	3	5	15	1.50	23
5	Alen Pajenk	3	6	17	1.50	26

Best Setters
	width=158	Player	width=20		width=20	Faults	width=20		width=20		width=20
1	Bruno Rezende	40	1	111	20.00	152
2	Fabian Drzyzga	40	0	104	20.00	144
3	Gregor Ropret	32	0	94	16.00	126
4	Antoine Brizard	22	0	56	11.00	78
5	Benjamin Toniutti	7	0	30	3.50	37

Best Diggers
	width=158	Player	width=20	Digs	width=20	Faults	width=20	Receptions	width=20		width=20
1	Jani Kovačič	18	4	2	9.00	24
2	Thales Hoss	16	3	1	8.00	20
3	Paweł Zatorski	16	7	3	8.00	26
4	Bruno Rezende	15	5	0	7.50	20
5	Ricardo Lucarelli	15	7	3	7.50	25

Best Receivers
	width=158	Player	width=20	Excellents	width=20	Faults	width=20		width=20		width=20
1	Klemen Čebulj	17	2	22	41.46	41
2	Earvin N'Gapeth	13	3	28	29.55	44
3	Trevor Clevenot	13	2	18	39.39	33
4	Paweł Zatorski	13	2	25	32.50	40
5	Thales Hoss	11	2	11	45.83	24

COVID related

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the games were played without spectators. A total of 10,170 COVID-19 tests (including women's side) were conducted to players, referees, officials and staff every four days.^[12]

See also

• 2021 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League
• 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup
• 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's Challenger Cup
• Volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics

External links

• FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2021 – official website
• Fédération Internationale de Volleyball FIVB

Notes and References

1. Web site: Italy To Host VNL 2021 In Secure Bubble . March 12, 2021 . . March 12, 2021 . March 13, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210313041818/https://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/italy-to-host-vnl-2021-in-secure?id=92286 . live .
2. Web site: FIVB ANNOUNCES HOST COUNTRIES FOR 2020 VNL . September 13, 2019 . . October 20, 2019 . September 17, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190917195907/http://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/fivb-announces-host-countries-for-2020-vnl?id=88839 . live .
3. Web site: Brazil defeat Poland in final to claim their first VNL title . volleyballworld . 25 July 2022 . 27 June 2021 . 2 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210702120708/https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/vnl-2021/news/brazil-masters-of-the-men-s-vnl-with-comeback-win-over-poland-in-final . live .
4. Web site: Solid France snatch bronze from Slovenia in Men's VNL for second podium appearance . volleyballworld . 25 July 2022 . 27 June 2021 . 12 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220712125324/https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/vnl-2021/news/solid-france-snatch-bronze-from-slovenia-in-men-s-vnl-for-second-podium-appearan . live .
5. Web site: Wallace, Kurek share Men's VNL MVP Award . volleyballworld . 25 July 2022 . 27 June 2021 . 2 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210702120711/https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/vnl-2021/news/wallace-kurek-share-men-s-vnl-mvp-award . live .
6. Web site: Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2021 – Everything you need to know . 25 May 2021 . . 25 May 2021 . 25 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210525153506/https://olympics.com/en/featured-news/volleyball-nations-league-vnl-2021-everything-you-need-to-know . live .
7. Web site: FIVB statement on participating teams at VNL 2021 . 26 April 2021 . . 15 April 2022 . 4 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220104202739/https://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/fivb-statement-on-participating-teams-at-vnl?id=92596 . live .
8. Web site: FIVB statement on participating teams at VNL 2021 . 2021-04-26 . 2022-01-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220104202739/https://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/fivb-statement-on-participating-teams-at-vnl?id=92596 . live .
9. News: Successful COVID-19 protocols at VNL Bubble 2021 . FIVB . July 8, 2021 . July 13, 2021 . July 13, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210713094456/https://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/successful-covid-19-protocols-at-vnl-bubble-2021?id=94676 . live .
10. Web site: Men's Statistics - FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2021. volleyballworld.com. 28 May 2021. 29 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210529075746/https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/vnl-2021/statistics/men/best-scorers/. live.
11. Web site: Men's Statistics - FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2021. volleyballworld.com. 26 June 2021. 25 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210625114815/https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/vnl-2021/finals-statistics/men/best-scorers/. live.
12. Web site: volleyballworld.com. Looking back: A historic Volleyball Nations League in 2021. 2022-02-08. volleyballworld.com. en. 2022-02-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20220208111415/https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/vnl-2022/news/looking-back-a-historic-volleyball-nations-league-in-2021. live.

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