Argentines check slump  

Don’t cry for us, Argentina.

That could be the message of the Argentinian men’s volleyball team to the fans back home after a faulty, miserable start to its Volleyball Nations League campaign.

On Friday, the calming reassurance came in a soothing 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22 victory over China in a VNL Week 2 action at the Smart Araneta Coliseum that lit up an erstwhile gloomy campaign for the Argentines.

Bruno Lim was at the forefront of the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalists’ attack as he dropped a match-high 25 points including 20 on kills.

Agustin Loser, meanwhile, displayed winning attitude and chipped in 13 hits, the same number put up by Ezequiel Palacios.

It was a win that pushed Argentina from 14th out of 16 teams to 11th with six points and two wins to show.

And somehow, it soothed the pain of their disappointing start to the season when it dropped five of its first seven games including its first two in Manila.

Interestingly, it came at the expense of the Chinese, who finally played their first game on Philippine soil after splitting their first two assignments on forfeitures.

China’s game versus Olympic champion France Wednesday was cancelled and forfeited due to COVID-19 concerns and later won the next one over Germany the next day after the Germans refused to play even though the former have cleared medical protocols.

Thus, the Chinese moved to No. 13 with six points.

Earlier, the Netherlands blitzed Germany in the fourth set and hammered out a 22-25, 31-29, 25-23, 25-16 win to improve to No. 6 with 12 points on four wins in seven games.

The Germans slumped to No. 10 with seven points.

PLDT is a presenting partner while The STAR, Quezon City headed by Mayor Joy Belmonte, Maynilad, Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee are among the backers of the 16-nation event.