2018 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League -Week 2 / Pool 6
- May 22-24, 2018
- Suwon, South Korea
- Time Zone: UTC
- World Rankings: No. 5 Russia, No. 7 Italy, No. 10 South Korea, No. 13 Germany
- Schedule/Results
Schedule
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 May | 15:00 | Italy  |
– |  Russia |
– | – | – | 0–0 | |||
| 22 May | 18:00 | South Korea  |
– |  Germany |
– | – | – | 0–0 | |||
| 23 May | 16:00 | Italy |
– | Germany |
– | – | – | 0–0 | |||
| 23 May | 19:00 | South Korea |
– | Russia |
– | – | – | 0–0 | |||
| 24 May | 16:00 | Germany |
– | Russia |
– | – | – | 0–0 | |||
| 24 May | 19:00 | South Korea |
– | Italy |
– | – | – | 0–0 |
Standings
After opening weekend, Russia sits in seventh place out of the 16 teams with six points, after posting a 2-1 record on opening weekend in Pool 1, topping Argentina (3-1) and Thailand (3-1) and falling to Netherlands (3-0).
South Korea follows in eighth with five points, rebounding from an opening sweep at the hands of Belgium, to post five-set win over Dominican Republic and a huge upset of host China (3-0) in Pool 2.
Germany went 1-2, scoring on of the upsets of the tournament in its opener, besting host Brazil (3-1), before falling to Serbia (3-0) and Japan (3-1) in Pool 4.
Italy is in search of its first win after dropping decisions to Turkey (3-0), Poland (3-2) and the United States (3-0) in Lincoln, Nebraska, in Pool 3.
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  Netherlands |
3 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 9.000 | 250 | 194 | 1.289 |
| 2 |  Turkey |
3 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 4.500 | 263 | 233 | 1.129 |
| 3 |  United States |
2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 2.000 | 285 | 261 | 1.092 |
| 4 |  Serbia |
2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2.333 | 232 | 209 | 1.110 |
| 5 |  China |
2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2.000 | 193 | 165 | 1.170 |
| 6 |  Brazil |
2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 1.400 | 280 | 249 | 1.124 |
| 7 | Russia |
2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 1.200 | 255 | 244 | 1.045 |
| 8 | South Korea |
2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 1.200 | 248 | 220 | 1.127 |
| 9 |  Belgium |
2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 1.200 | 224 | 227 | 0.987 |
| 10 |  Thailand |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 0.667 | 226 | 219 | 1.032 |
| 11 | Germany |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0.571 | 230 | 256 | 0.898 |
| 12 |  Japan |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0.571 | 230 | 258 | 0.891 |
| 13 |  Poland |
1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0.500 | 254 | 268 | 0.948 |
| 14 |  Dominican Republic |
0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 0.444 | 236 | 289 | 0.817 |
| 15 | Italy |
0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0.222 | 215 | 255 | 0.843 |
| 16 |  Argentina |
0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0.222 | 193 | 267 | 0.723 |
Pool Preview
With three of the four teams firmly in the middle of the pack, this pool could come up big when in determining which teams advance to the finals. One would have to give a slight edge to Russia in terms of a favorite to come out as the leader of the pack, simply by way of experience and opening weekend results.
Italy’s coach Davide Mazzanti said he did not plan to play his stars until the third weekend of the competition and he appears to be sticking to his guns, despite the team’s 0-3 record on opening weekend. He has made just one change to his roster, adding Lucia Bosetti in place of Alice Degrada, yet Italy must earn some points to move up the standings ladder until those stars arrive.
South Korea has a star player in Kim Yeon Koung and will look to her to guide the team to hopefully another upset as the team did against China. Germany also features a young squad without much international experience, so it is a bit of a mystery from day to day what the squad will bring. With the team’s surprise win over Brazil, nothing is impossible, however. Louisa Lippman should carry the squad in terms of scoring as she did in last year’s World Grand Prix and Montreux Masters.
Roster Changes
Russia has included Elena Novik and Viktoriia Gorbacheva in its lineup in place of setter Daria Ryseva and libero Kristina Kurnosova.
Germany has added Barbara Roxana Wezorke, Ivana Vanjak and Denise Imoudu, while sending home middle blocker Jennifer Pettke, outside Hanna Orthmann and setter Pia Kastner.
Italy brought in Lucia Bosetti in place of outside Alice Degrada.
South Korea has no changes for Week 2.
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