The Wilfredo Leon Show | VNL 2026

Leon, ripping an ace. The first of many. I felt like we were waiting for that first one to go down. Just off the tape as well. Oh, it's a monster block coming in from Wilfredo Leon. Huge play on Paul inside, playing aggressive on both sides of the ball. Here's Leon in a great position. Leon, oh. That serve was way too easy on him. You give him that freebie like that. Leon, oh. There it is. Set point coming in now for Poland. So many of Leon's swings are just clean kills. Not touching a blocker, not touching a defender. Just straight from his hand to the... It's a good comeback. Where they were. That was out of system. Comedians have to work really hard on this one. So Leon just delivers such a soft little touch. You expect the power from Leon all the time. So when he goes to... Back in front court as Leon goes back to serve. Oh, it's a cracker of a serve. 130 kilometers an hour, 81 miles an hour. City I cannot pronounce, so I won't even try. Ball back to Gomez. Denied. And the crowd is into it. That's a massive block up front. Alfredo Leon gets a good hand on this one and sets it up perfectly. 22-19 the lead. Argentina, can they hold it? Oh, wow. Not with Leon swinging like that. At this point in the set, Poland down two points here in the red zone. Argentina, can they close it out? That's a good serve. Leon, oh, the dig is there. Chance to convert. Frenchy rolls it. That doesn't put it down. Comenda back to Leon. Argentina's got to play more aggressive than that. 42 apiece. Argentina. Gomez. This time on the left side of the court. Poland's block has been up and down throughout the... Pull over. And this crowd are here for it. It's one of the hardest serves that we've seen. Side with 14 points. As a middle, no less. Leon. Nobody home. Just hesitation on the ground. Chanting for Leon. Another ace serve for Wilfredo Leon. 120 kilometers. Match point for Poland. That's a pressure serve. From the pipe and Poland. Solid pass from Popiewczuk and that allows Leon to finish off. We haven't said his name really in a while. As he's back in the front row and just ripping again. Expect Mone to be back out to start the second set. Here's Leon. Everybody expecting the heat. And he drops it in. White, Bulgaria in green. Rob Snoek alongside Matt Prosser with Emily Eman. Here comes the swing from Bardaroff. Picked up by Popiewczuk. Leon rips it through the block of Nikolov and Petkov. Well, first swing not scoring for Bulgaria. Having just played a season there. Really good season at Lublin. Guess who his teammate was? Wilfredo Leon. Here comes Leon. That's what we've been waiting for. 126 kilometers per hour from Wilfredo Leon. Targets the libero way back to the niche net. And how about these? Wide awake and ready to go. We're going to watch firepower. This is a perfect player to watch. Reserved for block. It was Wilfredo Leon who gets the block point to win it. And we're all square. That one set a piece. Here's Leon. Looking for his first big serve of the game. There it is. He's got an ace. That one coming fast off his hand. It's been a struggle for Leon to find consistency. I'm really excited to see how many Poland fans have been coming to matches. What percentage is USA versus Poland? That's for sure. Especially with Wilfredo Leon in the lineup. Swinging like that. It doesn't get better than Wilfredo Leon when he has nearly an open net. Three point Polish lead. This ball is so difficult to get. He brings it with speed. He takes a little bit off. Let's see if they can figure out what happened in the previous play. Looking at the screen. Here's Boye. Nice up from Lemanski. Semenyuk sets Leon. Triple block. Up from Francis Ramon. Here's Boye. Lemanski serving. It's a big downward swing from the seven footer. Here's Boye. This is popped up by Fearley. Semenyuk sets it for Leon. Pull it over. Free ball chance for Brizard to set up his offense. And off the head of one of the Polish players. Semenyuk sets Leon. Here in the fourth set. Leon. Semenyuk out of system. Sets to Leon. And that's going to score off the touch of the block. Good high swing from Leon. This is what he's best known for. Chateau in the Polish Plus Liga this year. At Leon. Who's going to swing? And who's going to score? A mighty dent in the floor maybe? There's no time to make any kind of reaction when Leon is swinging like this. This skill. Wilfredo Leon. And does he have an ace? Oh yeah he does. That's Stefano Cesare. What a way to start. Let's see how close this is. Really brings it down. Up from Shoji. And he's shot down. Again. Leon takes it overhand. He's going to rip it down for his 11th point of the match. Komenda who's been setting a phenomenal VNL. Goes for the defense as well. Oranj with a good hang time. Out of system swing for Leon. He's covered. He'll go again. Harder. And that's the value of that recycle ball. Of his options. Whether it be challenges or timeouts or subs. Oh doesn't need him. A serve for Leon. 124 kilometers an hour. It doesn't matter who you are. This is not reception anymore. This is serve. Pulling from the backcourt. The reception into the pipe attack for Wilfredo Leon. He has that touch. That hard driven serve. Crane off the net. On another huge defense. He's headed back to Ukraine next season. Oh pressure serve. But it's still coming at you. Are you getting me Wilfredo Leon? Semenyuk looks into the corner. Komenda out to Leon. And that is not coming back. They're on the floor somewhere. Komenda chooses the match. Just that tiny lapse in concentration on Ukraine's side. A serve. Poland. It's easy to have lapses in concentration when Wilfredo Leon is serving at you. There's probably been a couple of moments where you're like cap it off. Clips the tape. Poland. Normally the pipe play is a timing play. And it is because the middles usually have to make a second move. Top spin coming. For now again the target. Back out to Leon. Who goes through the legs of Ljanovic. Despite the best efforts of Urof Klenicic. Komenda. Ljanovic. This ball traveling from sideline to sideline. It's too much time for Wilfredo Leon to get his... In Poland. Does he go after him? Yes he does. Looks for that seam. When it's working it might change it. In the air. He's hanging up there. The velocity that he generates is uncanny. The ability to... Trouble. Leon stays at the line. In position to fight for that medal once again. Step number two is underway. And the block for Poland is right there with the... This is a gigantic block. For Tino Ernaut to deal with. Top spin coming. Again the two point lead. Slovenia just have not been able to crack it. Ljanovic. Takes the ball. Bit of spin on it. Defense. Komenda. Ball launch. Hands are there. Good pick up. Going again to the outside with some speed. Can Leon put it away? A tiny misconnection on the playing first contact. Ends up with Fornal only having to predict it once. But it's all up to you. Top spin coming. Absolutely electric off the hand. Leon. Back to the line. He's done some damage. And he continues to with another ace serve. Generates another point off his serve. Here comes the top spin. And another ace serve. Leon. With absolute lightning from the end line. He backed off on his first one. It was only 115 kilometers an hour. This one 100. I'll tell you what. He's only gone and got it. I say what a serve from Leon. The man. The legend. He's one ace again. He's backed off on that one. He's gone with his 80%. Makes some touches. And the scoop is great from Avril. But that one is a half volley and they don't care. Phenomenal defensive determination. Variations. Haynes takes it. And McHenry can't find the floor. Leon. Well played Shoji. Champlin screaming for it but Haynes gets it. Take the set. It had to go to five. For the neutrals. And it's going to five. Yes he does. But that's a good ball. Oh I say. We just talked about that. No one's got any middle. And suddenly Yakubyshek shuts down McHenry. The audacity of Wilfredo Leon to go full commit. First things first. Robinson's got to get this in. He's done that. That's a lovely serve. Popivshek covering deep. Point for Poland.