The Volleyball Nations League got this year's international season started. Enjoy this look back at some of the highlights of the competition.

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Southern European neighbours Serbia and Bulgaria met in Ottawa for the opening match of VNL 2022

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In the biggest upset of the first competition week, China shut out Brazil in Brasilia

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Poland were still reigning world champions when a young Italian squad managed to beat them in Canada

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USA celebrated four victories in Brasilia to remain the only undefeated team in the competition after week one

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In a hard-fought five-setter in Quezon City, Nimir Abdel-Aziz played a key role in the Netherlands’ win over Argentina - he went on to become the tournament’s best scorer, spiker and server

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Japan’s Yuji Nishida scored five aces towards a five-set win over Italy in the Philippines

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Amin Esmaeilnezhad led Iran to a 3-0 victory over USA in Sofia, handing the Americans their first defeat of the competition

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Bartosz Kurek was the man of the day as Poland also beat USA to collect a full set of four wins from week two in the Bulgarian capital

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Argentina surprised Olympic champions France with a 3-1 win in Osaka, but it was not enough to qualify for the Finals

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The Polish fans packed the week three venue in Gdansk...

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... but the home favourites were stunned by Iran in a spectacular five-setter

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Italy cruised through four victories in Gdansk to top the Preliminary Phase standings

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The United States dethroned defending champs Brazil 3-1 in the first quarterfinal in Bologna

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Hosts Italy started the Finals with a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over the Netherlands

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Jean Patry led France to a straight-set quarterfinal win over Japan

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Poland and Iran put together another five-set thriller, this time the European side came out on top to advance to the semis

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Torey Defalco aced six times in USA’s shutout of Poland in the first semifinal

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France were merciless in disappointing the home crowd with a 3-0 semifinal victory over Italy

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Poland’s captain Bartosz Kurek rejoiced at the end of a victorious bronze medal match against Italy

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Earvin Ngapeth broke loose when it mattered most in the five-set final against USA, to claim a historic gold and the MVP award

· Watch replays and highlights of VNL 2022 matches on Volleyball TV.