2018 FIVB MEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, DAILY SUMMARY
After Day 6, many of the pools are taking shape, and more teams find themselves booking flights back home. .
- Belgium beat the Dominican Republic 3-0 to clinch a spot in the next round. Argentina beat Slovenia 3-2 and have a chance to qualify.
- The Netherlands beat Egypt 3-1. Brazil beat Canada 3-1, giving Canada their first loss.
- Russia beat Cameroon 3-0. Australia claimed the last qualification spot from Pool C with a 3-1 win over Tunisia.
- Cuba beat Puerto Rico 3-1 for their only win of the tournament. Poland swept Iran in a match to determine 1st place in Pool D.
MATCH OF THE DAY: ARGENTINA VS. SLOVENIA
Argentina picked up an important win on Monday over Slovenia, a team already qualified for the next round of the tournament. They fought back from being down 1-2 and took the match to remain in a favorable position to qualify out of Pool A. They will face Japan, who sits at 1-3 so far, on Tuesday. A won or a loss in 5 sets will see Argentina through to the second round.
Argentina was led by Bruno Lima. The starting opposite scored 18 points on 17 kills and a block. Though he started strong, he only scored 1 point in the tie-break. Cristian Poglajen scored 4 of his 16 points in the last set. He finished with 15 kills and 1 ace. Lisandro Zanotti came in for Facundo Conte and scored 13 points while only starting in the final 2 sets. He put away 11 kills and put up 2 blocks. Conte and Sebastian Sole led the match with 4 blocks each. Argentina held a 14 to 5 advantage in blocks over Slovenia.
Mitja Gasparini posted a match-high 19 points in the defeat. He matched Lima with 17 kills to go along with 2 aces. Tine Urnaut scored 16 points on 16 kills while hitting 38.1%. Klemen Cebulj came off the bench in the first set and scored 16 points on the left side from 13 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace. Slobodan Kovac used both Gregor Ropret and Dejan Vincic at setter, but they could not find the right combination to get the win.
Cristian Poglajen of Argentina said, “It was a very close game; we had the goal of taking at least two points, ideally three. The key to success was the service and defence. Personally, I think I improved the level of my performance as the match progressed.”
PLAYER OF THE DAY: FABIAN DRZYZGA, POLAND
The Polish setter was the maestro that orchestrated a fabulously efficient performance against a then-unbeaten Iran squad on Monday. A balanced attack saw four Polish players turn in six or more kills and notch double-digit point tallies. Michal Kubiak led the way with 12 points on 11 kills and 1 block. Piotr Nowakowski, Bartosz Kurek and Artur Szalpuk added 10 points each. Kurek put down nine kills from the right side, while Szalpuk added seven kills and a team-best two aces. Nowakowski put up four blocks to go with six kills in the middle. Not only did Drzyzga distribute the ball well among his teammates, he set his team to an impressive 57.5% attack efficiency. As mentioned earlier, this came against a team which had not yet lost a match.
STAT LEADERS – AFTER MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
- Best Scorer: Miguel Gutierrez, Cuba (86 points)
- Best Spiker: Ivan Zaytsev, Italy (65.79% success rate)
- Best Blocker: Simon Van De Voorde, Belgium (0.95 blocks per set)
- Best Server: Ivan Zaytsev, Italy (0.85 aces per set)
- Best Setter: Harrison Peacock, Australia (11.85 assists per set)
- Best Digger: Steven Marshall, Canada (2.93 digs per set)
- Best Receiver: Klemen Cebulj, Slovenia (47.00% efficiency)
POOL-BY-POOL RESULTS AND RECAP LINKS – MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
- Pool A: Belgium def. Dominican Republic 3-0; Argentina def. Slovenia 3-2 (LINK)
- Pool B: Netherlands def. Egypt 3-1; Brazil def. Canada 3-1 (LINK)
- Pool C: Russia def. Cameroon 3-0; Australia def. Tunisia 3-1 (LINK)
- Pool D: Poland def. Iran 3-0; Cuba def. Puerto Rico 3-1 (LINK)
POOL STANDINGS
POOL A
Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
1 | Italy | 4 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 12.000 | 325 | 251 | 1.295 |
2 | Belgium | 3 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 1.375 | 419 | 394 | 1.063 |
3 | Slovenia | 3 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 1.571 | 404 | 365 | 1.107 |
4 | Argentina | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 1.000 | 361 | 353 | 1.023 |
5 | Japan | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 0.556 | 298 | 313 | 0.952 |
6 | Dominican Republic | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 0.067 | 267 | 398 | 0.671 |
POOL B
Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
1 | Netherlands | 4 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 1.500 | 455 | 420 | 1.083 |
2 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 2.500 | 341 | 311 | 1.096 |
3 | Brazil | 3 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 1.667 | 364 | 345 | 1.055 |
4 | France | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 1.667 | 359 | 335 | 1.072 |
5 | Egypt | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 0.308 | 368 | 426 | 0.864 |
6 | China | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0.250 | 315 | 365 | 0.863 |
POOL C
Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
1 | United States | 4 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 2.400 | 381 | 340 | 1.121 |
2 | Serbia | 3 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 2.200 | 365 | 329 | 1.109 |
3 | Russia | 3 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 3.333 | 321 | 255 | 1.259 |
4 | Australia | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 0.818 | 428 | 442 | 0.968 |
5 | Cameroon | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 0.333 | 334 | 398 | 0.839 |
6 | Tunisia | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0.167 | 274 | 339 | 0.808 |
POOL D
Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
1 | Poland | 4 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 6.000 | 347 | 259 | 1.340 |
2 | Bulgaria | 3 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 3.333 | 311 | 270 | 1.152 |
3 | Iran | 3 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 1.800 | 327 | 296 | 1.105 |
4 | Finland | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 0.667 | 349 | 361 | 0.967 |
5 | Cuba | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 0.462 | 392 | 436 | 0.899 |
6 | Puerto Rico | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 0.200 | 331 | 435 | 0.761 |
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 SCHEDULE
Pool A – Florence, Italy
- Argentina vs. Japan
- Italy vs. Slovenia
Pool B – Ruse, Bulgaria
- Canada vs. France
- Brazil vs. China
Pool C – Bari, Italy
- Serbia vs. Russia
- Tunisia vs. United States
Pool D – Varna, Bulgaria
- Finland vs. Iran
- Bulgaria vs. Poland
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