2018 FIVB Men’s World Championships – September 18th, Daily Summary

  0 Braden Keith | September 18th, 2018 | African Volleyball, Asian Volleyball, Brazilian Volleyball, Canadian Volleyball, European volleyball, International Volleyball, News, NORCECA volleyball, South American Volleyball, U.S. Men's National Team

There was only one advancement through to the finals still up for grabs on the final day of the 1st round of the 2018 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship, and while Japan took a tournament-closing win over Argentina, Argentina got the sets that they needed to clinch their position.

Coming into the match, Argentina needed to win a minimum of 2 sets, regardless of final outcome, to move on. Anything less than that, and Japan would take the 4th position and advance.

Argentina won the opener, but Japan took the next two (including a 32-30 outcome in the 3rd set to stay alive). Argentina  then took the 4th set 25-20, and while they continued to play their starters, the pressure was off, and Japan took the consolation of the match.

There was still plenty of wrangling to be done over positions, too (see the scenarios coming into the day).

Match of the Day: Japan def. Argentina 3-2 (26-25, 20-25, 30-32, 25-20, 15-13)

As the match with the most riding on it, this match lived up to its billing. Besides the tournament implications, there were two players in the match who hit 30 points: Facundo Conte of Argentina and Yuji Nishida of Japan. This match marked the first time in the rally-scoring era that two players have cleared 30 points in the same match.

Argentina came into the tournament on an emotional high after sweeping the US in a series of 3 friendlies (even if it wasn’t a full-strength American squad). That was part of an intense tuneup for the tournament by the Argentines.

This marks the 6th-straight World Championship tournament in which Argentina has advanced out of the first round, dating back to 1994. Their highest finish in that run was 6th in 2002.

Player of the Day: Facundo Conte, Argentina

A player who hits 30-for-36 and racks up one of the highest-scoring game in World Championship history in an elimination match is the rarest of cases: a Player of the Day award to a losing side. He hit 83% on 36 swings. That’s an unheard-of rate at this level of volleyball. Especially considering that he hadn’t played super well coming into the match – the output lifted his tournament performance from 42.6% hitting to 55.9% hitting.

Conte is 29-years old, and has spent a decade on the Argentina National Team. He’s a veteran, and a pro, and stepped up when a young team needed a veteran presence with an all-time performance.

Stats Leaders – After End of Preliminary Round

  • Best Scorers: Wallace, Brazil/Chuan Jiang, China – 87 points
  • Best Spiker: Ivan Zaytsev, Italy – 64/102 = 62.75%
  • Best Blocker – Simon Van de Voorde, Belgium – 1.11 blocks/set
  • Best Server: Ivan Zaytsev, Iraly – .71 aces/set
  • Best Setter: Harrison Peacock, Australia – 11.85 running sets/set
  • Best Diggers: Steven Marshall, Canada – 2.50 digs/set
  • Best Receiver: Taylor Sander, USA – 42.42%

Pool-By-Pool Results and Recap Links – Tuesday, September 18th

  • Pool A: Japan def. Argentina 3-2; Italy def. Slovenia 3-1 (Recap)
  • Pool B: France def. Canada 3-1; Brazil def. China 3-0 (Recap)
  • Pool C: Russia def. Cameroon 3-0; Australia def. Tunisia 3-1 (Recap)
  • Pool D: Iran def. Finland 3-2; Poland def. Bulgaria 3-1 (Recap)

Pool Standings

Pool A

Matches Pts Sets Points
Rank Team W L W L Ratio W L Ratio
1  Italy 5 0 15 15 2 7.500 423 326 1.298
2  Belgium 3 2 10 11 8 1.375 419 394 1.063
3  Slovenia 3 2 9 12 10 1.200 479 463 1.035
4  Argentina 2 3 6 10 11 0.909 475 469 1.013
5  Japan 2 3 5 8 11 0.727 414 427 0.970
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  Brazil 4 1 11 13 6 2.167 439 405 1.084
2  Netherlands 4 1 11 12 8 1.500 455 420 1.083
3  France 3 2 11 13 7 1.857 456 420 1.086
4  Canada 3 2 9 11 7 1.571 426 408 1.044
5  Egypt 1 4 3 4 13 0.308 368 426 0.864
6  China 0 5 0 3 15 0.200 375 440 0.852

Pool C

Matches Pts Sets Points
Rank Team W L W L Ratio W L Ratio
1  United States 5 0 13 15 5 3.000 456 383 1.191
2  Serbia 4 1 12 14 7 2.000 476 430 1.107
3  Russia 3 2 10 12 6 2.000 422 366 1.153
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 5 0 2 15 0.133 317 414 0.766

Pool D

Matches Pts Sets Points
Rank Team W L W L Ratio W L Ratio
1  Poland 5 0 15 15 3 5.000 445 343 1.297
2  Iran 4 1 11 12 7 1.714 437 400 1.093
3  Bulgaria 3 2 9 11 6 1.833 395 368 1.073
4  Finland 2 3 6 9 12 0.750 453 471 0.962
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

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of VolleyMob.com. Braden's first foray into sports journalism came in 2010, when he launched a swimming website called The Swimmers' Circle. Two years later, he joined SwimSwam.com as a co-founder. Long huge fans of volleyball, when Braden and the SwimSwam partners sought an opportunity to …

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