Andrés Villena helped Spain to two wins in the first week of play in World League Group 3
Lausanne, Switzerland, June 21, 2016 - Week 1 of action in FIVB Volleyball World League Group 3 put Slovenia (Pool A3), Montenegro (Pool B3) and Greece (Pool C3) in control of their respective pools, with three wins each. But it was Andrés Villena of Spain who was the weekend's standout scorer in Group 3, notching up 84 points to help his team to two wins in Pool B3. That was six points more than Marko Bojic of Pool B3 leaders Montenegro and 20 more than Kervin Pinerua of Venezuela, who claimed two wins in Pool A3.
World League Group 3 statisticsWorld League Group 3 results and rankingsVillena's scoring prowess keeps Spain's hopes of qualifying for the Group 3 Final Four alive. These will feature the top three of the group's combined standings plus hosts Germany from July 1-3.
Villena led his team to victory against Mexico in their first match on Friday, scoring 32 points in the European side's 3-2 (25-22, 24-26, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12) victory. Villena was also his team's top scorer in their 3-1 (25-20, 26-28, 25-16, 25-17) victory against Germany on Saturday with 22 points. The 30 points he scored against Montenegro on Sunday, however, were not sufficient to help Spain to a third victory. He was also outscored during that match by Montenegro's Bojic, who claimed 31 for his team in their five-set win 3-2 (25-27, 25-23, 25-18, 21-25, 15-13).
Villena scores one of 32 points against Mexico on FridaySpain play Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and Germany in Pool F3 in Almaty, Kazhakstan next weekend. Montenegro, on the other hand, take on Venezuela, Tunisia and Mexico in Pool E3 in the Tunisian capital, Tunis. The weekend also features Slovenia, Qatar, Greece and Turkey in action in Pool D3 in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Vojin Cacic of Montenegro was the top scorer in the Group 3 Preliminary Round in 2015 with 126 points, ahead of Badawy Moneim of Egypt (109 points) and Pinerua of Venezuela (108 points). Montenegro progressed to the Group 3 final but lost to Egypt, who earned a place in World League Group 2 this year.
Related news:Bojic does it again in Montenegro’s tie-break thriller win over SpainVillena on fire as Spain beat GermanyVillena carries Spain’s victory over Mexico with 32 points