2018 FIVB MEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – SEPTEMBER 15, DAILY SUMMARY

2018 FIVB MEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, DAILY SUMMARY

After Day 5, more teams have booked their ticket to the next round of the competition.

Italy was qualifed for the next round and claimed sole possession of first place in Pool A with a 3-1 win over Argentina, and Slovenia remained undefeated with a 3-2 comeback win over Belgium.
Canada moved on to the next round with a 3-1 win over China, but Brazil fell back to fourth place after losing 3-1 to the Netherlands. France has qualified for the next stage even though they were not in action today.
The United States remained undefeated with a 3-1 win over Russia. It was the first time they earned all 3 points. Serbia moved to second place with a 3-0 sweep over Tunisia.
Poland and Iran, who are top Pool D at 3-0, both won on Saturday. They and Bulgaria have booked their ticket to the next round.

MATCH OF THE DAY: USA VS. RUSSIA

While there is no denying that Brazil’s loss was a huge surprise, and Slovenia’s comeback over Belgium was exciting, it is very difficult to overlook a match-up between the teams ranked 2 and 4 in the world by the FIVB. This especially the case since Russia has looked untouchable all summer, winning the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.

After needing tie-breaks to win their first two matches of Pool C, the United States knocked off the tournament favorite in 4 sets to move to 3-0 and earn a full 3 points. “We have long been expecting this match-up,” said Micah Christenson of the United States. “We are very happy we won it against the team who are believed to be the strongest so far.” The United States sits on top of the pool with matches against Cameroon and Tunisia remaining.

Most of the production for the United Stares came from the pins with Aaron Russell leading the charge. The new attention signing scored 17 points from 16 kills and 1 block. He posted a 69.6% attack average on the night. Matt Anderson was right behind with 16 points from the opposite position. He hit 59.1% on his way to 13 kills. Anderson, who plays outside hitter for Zenit Kazan during the professional season, also contributed 1 block and 2 service aces. Taylor Sander produced 13 points on 10 kills, 1 block, and 2 aces while hitting 47.6%. Micah Christenson scored 4 points on 2 blocks and 2 aces while setting the United States to a 57.0% attack average.

Similar to Christenson, Alexander Butko got balanced offensive production from the outside. Maxim Mikhailov put away 13 kills on 29 attempts (44.9%). Egor Kliuka and Dmitry Volkov both contributed 10 kills from the left side. Kliuka finished with 13 points after getting a block and 2 aces. Volkov added 2 blocks to total 12 points.

Dmitriy Muserskiy scores 13 points on the middle. Muserskiy, who will play with Suntory in Japan next season, scored on 8 kills, 3 blocks, and 2 aces. Artem Volvich started opposite of Muserskiy in the middle but was replaced after the initial set by Ilyas Kurkaev and did not score any points. Kurvaev scored 6 points on 4 kills and 2 blocks for the Russians.

PLAYER OF THE DAY: MOUSAVI SEYED, IRAN

While he only produced in one statistical category on Saturday, Seyed came up huge in a 3-1 win for Iran to stay undefeated in Pool D. While 10 points on 10 kills might not seem to be the most tremendous of stat lines, getting 10 kills in the middle is remarkable. What makes it even more remarkable is that he terminated every set he was given. Seyes finished with a 100% efficiency in attack, getting 10 kills on 10 attempts. That type of perfection is rare on a such a big stage.

STAT LEADERS – AFTER SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

Best Scorer: Matt Anderson, United States (56 points)
Best Spiker: Ivan Zaytsev, Italy (64.62% success rate)
Best Blocker: Simon Van De Voorde, Belgium (1.00 blocks per set)
Best Server: Ivan Zaytsev, Italy (0.90 aces per set)
Best Setter: Micah Christenson, United States (9.21 assists per set)
Best Digger: Steven Marshall, Canada (3.10 digs per set)
Best Receiver: Jani Kovacic, Slovenia (51.16% efficiency)

POOL-BY-POOL RESULTS AND RECAP LINKS – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

Pool A: Slovenia def. Belgium 3-2; Italy def. Argentina 3-1 (LINK)
Pool B: Netherlands def. Brazil 3-1; Canada def. China 3-1 (LINK)
Pool C: United States def. Russia 3-1; Serbia def. Tunisia 3-1 (LINK)
Pool D: Iran def. Cuba 3-1; Poland def. Finland 3-1 (LINK)

POOL STANDINGS

POOL A

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L	Pts	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Italy	3	0	9	9	1	9.000	250	206	1.214
2	Slovenia	3	0	8	9	4	2.250	302	251	1.203
3	Belgium	1	2	4	5	7	0.714	255	265	0.962
4	Argentina	1	2	3	5	6	0.833	247	251	0.984
5	Japan	1	2	3	4	6	0.667	217	224	0.969
6	Dominican Republic	0	3	0	1	9	0.111	174	248	0.702

POOL B

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L	Pts	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Canada	3	0	9	9	1	9.000	253	217	1.166
2	France	2	1	7	8	3	2.667	252	228	1.105
3	Netherlands	2	1	6	6	5	1.200	250	233	1.073
4	Brazil	2	1	5	7	5	1.400	270	257	1.051
5	China	0	3	0	1	9	0.111	219	269	0.814
6	Egypt	0	3	0	0	9	0.000	192	232	0.828

POOL C

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L	Pts	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	United States	3	0	7	9	5	1.800	306	288	1.063
2	Serbia	2	1	7	8	4	2.000	269	248	1.085
3	Russia	2	1	6	7	3	2.333	241	196	1.230
4	Australia	1	2	4	5	7	0.714	256	269	0.952
5	Cameroon	1	2	3	4	6	0.667	223	243	0.918
6	Tunisia	0	3	0	1	9	0.111	197	248	0.794

POOL D

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L	Pts	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Poland	3	0	9	9	2	4.500	272	196	1.388
2	Iran	3	0	9	9	2	4.500	264	221	1.195
3	Bulgaria	2	1	6	7	3	2.333	236	214	1.103
4	Finland	1	2	3	3	7	0.429	236	255	0.925
5	Cuba	0	3	0	3	9	0.333	239	283	0.845
6	Puerto Rico	0	3	0	0	9	0.000	147	225	0.653