The United States stormed into the men's Volleyball Nations League semifinals with a dominant straight-sets victory over reigning world champions Italy on Thursday in Ningbo Beilun, China. The Americans triumphed 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21) and will now face an undefeated Japan side in Saturday's semifinals.
Opposite Jake Hanes delivered a career-defining performance, firing six service aces and tallying a match-high 21 points to lead the American charge. His serving proved the decisive factor in a match where the USA outscored Italy 14-5 from the service line, including six aces in the opening set alone.
"It's more of a feeling than a thinking thing — you just have to trust yourself," Hanes told VBTV after the match. "We all did a good job of trying to stay aggressive against a really good side-out team. It ended up working out for us."
Outside hitter Matthew Anderson contributed 15 points with three aces and a 67% attack success rate, while Ethan Champlin added 10 points. Middle blocker Merrick McHenry sealed the second set with a well-placed winner.
The win marks USA's return to the VNL final four for the first time since 2023, when they claimed their third silver medal in the competition. For Italy, the defeat ends a campaign that saw them reach the semifinals in 2025 and claim silver before falling short this year.
Italy's Yuri Romano led his team with 16 points, while Mattia Bottolo added 14. The Italians struggled to contain Hanes' serving barrage and made 19 unforced errors compared to USA's 17.
"They are a strong team, we know that. They played well. I think we also played quite well, but the problem was with reception," Romano commented. "When you don't hold your side-out, it's difficult. The positive takeaway is that we played with a lot of young players who played very well during the VNL. We start from this for the European Championship."
The Americans now turn their attention to Japan, who have yet to lose a match in this year's tournament. The semifinal is set for Saturday.
Sources
- https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/news/mighty-hanes-fires-six-aces-to-lead-usa-in-shutout-of-world-champs-italy
