Robinson, USA open second round of VNL with sweep of Bulgaria

Kelsey Robinson, back in the USA uniform for the first time since the Olympics, led with 13 kills, four digs and an ace as the Americans defeated Bulgaria 25-20, 25-22, 25-20 to open the second round of Volleyball Nations League.

Danielle Cuttino, a newcomer to the USA VNL roster, had 10 kills, two blocks and seven digs in the match in Quezon City, Philippines.

Hannah Tapp added nine kills, a block and two digs. Kathryn Plummer led with nine digs and had seven digs and Haleigh Washington had four kills, two blocks, four aces and four kills.

Kelsey Robinson attacks against Bulgaria/Volleyball World photo

Micha Hancock set and had a kill, a block, an ace, and six digs. The team had 44 kills. 

Libero Justine Wong-Orantes had eight digs.

Miroslava Paskova led Bulgaria with 11 kills and Silvana Chausheva had eight. 

The USA improved to 4-1 and plays Poland on Thursday night.

Also on the schedule in the Philippines on Wednesday, China was set to play Belgium and the Dominican Republic was to play Korea.

Later in Brasilia, Brazil, Brazil was to play Turkey and Poland was scheduled to play Thailand.

The second round got underway on Tuesday when Thailand swept Canada and Japan did the same to Poland in the Philippines. In Brasilia, Germany beat the Netherlands in four and Italy did the same to Serbia.

Kathryn Plummer, left, and Haleigh Washington block against Bulgaria/Volleyball World photo