Dominican Republic, Russia Remain Atop FIVB U20/U21 World Rankings

The Dominican Republic women’s team and Russian men’s team are both ranked atop the world in the latest FIVB U20 (women’s) and U21 (men’s) World Rankings.

The first update since September of 2015, the new rankings take into account the results of the U20/U21 Continental Championships that have wrapped up in the last few weeks around the world – handing out spots for upcoming World Championship events.

Neither sides saw much difference at the top, with teams that placed high at the 2015 World Championship events generally also placing very well in their respective continents.

The Dominican women, who won the 2015 U20 Women’s World Championship, also won the NORCECA U20 Championship in July for the maximum 30 points.

Brazil remained in 2nd place (also the same as they placed at the last World Championships) and Japan 3rd. The first movement came where Italy jumped Serbia to 4th, as Serbia fell to 5th. That’s in spite of  Italy placing only 2nd in the European U20 Championships and Serbia taking 2nd behind Russia.

The most significant jump came from Puerto Rico, the 14th-placed team at the 2015 World Championships. In 2015, they were the 27th-ranked team in the world, but thanks to a 4th-place NORCECA finish, they moved all the way to 12th in the latest World Rankings.

The United States women were runners-up at the NORCECA Championships, which puts them tied for 14th in the world, but no higher after they failed to participate at the 2015 U20 World Championships.

On the men’s side, the top 5 teams all held steady in an identical order as their finish at the 2015 World Championships. Turkey (5th in Europe) and Poland (European Champions) both jumped up and now sit 6th and 7th, respectively, in the rankings. The Americans, who won the NORCECA title, also made a big leap to 9th in the World Rankings – though they’re still behind the Canadians among NORCECA sides.

Slovenia, meanwhile, plummeted in the latest rankings. They were  7th at the 2015 World Championships, but just 12th in Europe earlier this year to fall all the way to 10th overall in the World Rankings. Ukraine was 2nd in the 2016 European tournament, which after not participating in the World Championships lifted them 55 spots to 15th in the latest world rankings.

Full rankings are below:

Women’s U20 World Rankings (October 2016)

Rk. Teams Points +/- Rk. Sept. 2015 U20 Continental Championship 2016-2017 U20 World Championship 2015 Diff. Rk. Tot. Rk. Tot. 1 Dominican Rep. 130 0 1 30 1 100 2 Brazil 120 0 1 30 2 90 3 Japan 96 0 2 26 4 70 4 Italy 94 1 5 14 3 80 5 Serbia 86 -1 2 26 5 60 6 Peru 72 0 3 22 6 50 7 Russia 70 1 1 30 7 40 8 China 55 -1 1 30 9 25 9 Turkey 42 1 3 22 10 20 10 Cuba 35 2 3 22 13 13 10 Bulgaria 35 -1 8 5 8 30 12 Puerto Rico 30 15 4 18 14 12 13 Chinese Taipei 28 0 6 10 11 18 14 USA 26 0 2 26 0 14 Argentina 26 5 2 26 0 16 Mexico 25 -1 5 14 15 11 17 Thailand 22 5 3 22 0 18 Vietnam 18 17 4 18 0 18 Belgium 18 12 4 18 0 18 Uruguay 18 47 4 18 0 21 Czech Rep. 17 -3 17 2 12 15 22 Korea 14 -3 5 14 0 22 Chile 14 0 5 14 0 24 Egypt 10 -13 0 16 10 24 Costa Rica 10 1 6 10 0 24 Slovakia 10 19 6 10 0 24 Paraguay 10 41 6 10 0 28 India 5 0 8 5 0 28 Kazakhstan 5 2 7 5 0 28 French Saint Martin 5 37 8 5 0 28 Haiti 5 37 7 5 0 28 Germany 5 15 7 5 0 33 Iran 3 2 9 3 0 33 Australia 3 10 11 3 0 33 Macau 3 10 12 3 0 33 Philippines 3 32 10 3 0 33 Croatia 3 10 12 3 0 33 France 3 10 9 3 0 33 Hungary 3 10 10 3 0 40 Sri Lanka 2 -10 15 2 0 40 Hong Kong 2 -5 13 2 0 40 New Zealand 2 -5 14 2 0 40 Slovenia 2 -24 15 2 0 40 Greece 2 -18 21 2 0 40 Estonia 2 -5 22 2 0 40 Finland 2 -5 14 2 0 40 Netherlands 2 -5 23 2 0 40 Austria 2 3 20 2 0 40 Azerbaijan 2 3 28 2 0 40 Denmark 2 3 30 2 0 40 England 2 3 34 2 0 40 Israel 2 3 33 2 0 40 Latvia 2 3 16 2 0 40 Norway 2 3 25 2 0 40 Poland 2 3 13 2 0 40 Portugal 2 3 27 2 0 40 Romania 2 3 24 2 0 40 Spain 2 3 18 2 0 40 Sweden 2 3 29 2 0 40 Switzerland 2 3 26 2 0 40 Ukraine 2 25 19 2 0 40 Georgia 2 25 31 2 0 40 Kosovo 2 25 32 2 0 64 Algeria 0 -48 0 0 64 Kenya 0 -45 0 0 64 Colombia 0 -39 0 0 64 Guatemala 0 -36 0 0 64 Martinique 0 -34 0 0 64 Nicaragua 0 -34 0 0 64 St. Lucia 0 -29 0 0 64 Montenegro 0 -21 0 0 64 Turkmenistan 0 -21 0 0 64 Antigua & Barbuda 0 1 0 0 64 Aruba 0 1 0 0 64 Bahamas 0 1 0 0 64 Barbados 0 1 0 0 64 Belarus 0 1 0 0 64 Belize 0 1 0 0 64 Bolivia 0 1 0 0 64 Bosnia & Herzegovina 0 1 0 0 64 British Virgin Islands 0 1 0 0 64 Canada 0 1 0 0 64 Côte D’Ivoire 0 1 0 0 64 Cyprus 0 1 0 0 64 Dominica 0 1 0 0 64 Ecuador 0 1 0 0 64 El Salvador 0 1 0 0 64 Fiji 0 1 0 0 64 Honduras 0 1 0 0 64 Indonesia 0 1 0 0 64 Ireland 0 1 0 0 64 Jamaica 0 1 0 0 64 Kuwait 0 1 0 0 64 Liechtenstein 0 1 0 0 64 Lithuania 0 1 0 0 64 Luxembourg 0 1 0 0 64 Malaysia 0 1 0 0 64 Malta 0 1 0 0 64 Mongolia 0 1 0 0 64 Nigeria 0 1 0 0 64 Northern Ireland 0 1 0 0 64 Panama 0 1 0 0 64 Rwanda 0 1 0 0 64 San Marino 0 1 0 0 64 Scotland 0 1 0 0 64 Senegal 0 1 0 0 64 Seychelles 0 1 0 0 64 Singapore 0 1 0 0 64 South Africa 0 1 0 0 64 Sri Lanka 0 1 0 0 64 St Kitts & Nevis 0 1 0 0 64 St Vincent & Grenadines 0 1 0 0 64 Trinid. & Tobago 0 1 0 0 64 Tunisia 0 1 0 0 64 US Virgin Islands 0 1 0 0 64 Venezuela 0 1 0 0 64 Wales 0 1 0 0

Men’s U21 World Rankings (October 2016)

Rk. Teams Points +/- Rk. Sept. 2015 U21 Continental Championship 2016-2017 U21 World Championship 2015 Diff. Rk. Tot. Rk. Tot. 1 Russia 122 0 3 22 1 100 2 Argentina 120 0 1 30 2 90 3 China 110 0 1 30 3 80 4 Brazil 96 0 2 26 4 70 5 Italy 78 0 4 18 5 60 6 Turkey 64 2 5 14 6 50 7 Poland 55 2 1 30 9 25 8 Canada 52 -1 3 22 8 30 9 USA 48 5 1 30 11 18 10 Slovenia 43 -4 12 3 7 40 11 Iran 41 -1 2 26 12 15 11 Egypt 41 2 1 30 15 11 13 Cuba 39 -2 2 26 13 13 14 Japan 30 1 4 18 14 12 15 Morocco 26 2 2 26 0 15 Ukraine 26 55 2 26 0 17 France 23 -5 9 3 10 20 18 Korea 22 -1 3 22 0 18 Colombia 22 2 3 22 0 20 Guatemala 18 50 4 18 0 20 Chile 18 -3 4 18 0 22 Thailand 14 8 5 14 0 22 Barbados 14 48 5 14 0 22 Peru 14 4 5 14 0 25 Mexico 10 -2 0 16 10 25 Turkmenistan 10 21 6 10 0 25 St Vincent and Grenadines 10 45 6 10 0 25 Germany 10 21 6 10 0 25 Uruguay 10 5 6 10 0 30 Kazakhstan 5 6 8 5 0 30 Sri Lanka 5 6 7 5 0 30 Trinidad & Tobago 5 40 7 5 0 30 Serbia 5 0 7 5 0 30 Bulgaria 5 6 8 5 0 35 Chinese Taipei 3 -9 12 3 0 35 Qatar 3 -5 10 3 0 35 Australia 3 35 9 3 0 35 Iraq 3 35 11 3 0 35 Czech Republic 3 -9 10 3 0 35 Belarus 3 35 11 3 0 41 Bahrain 2 -21 15 2 0 41 Saudi Arabia 2 -5 14 2 0 41 Hong Kong 2 5 16 2 0 41 Pakistan 2 29 13 2 0 41 Belgium 2 -5 24 2 0 41 Romania 2 -5 14 2 0 41 Slovakia 2 -5 16 2 0 41 Austria 2 5 27 2 0 41 Croatia 2 5 17 2 0 41 Denmark 2 5 13 2 0 41 England 2 5 31 2 0 41 Estonia 2 5 20 2 0 41 Finland 2 5 19 2 0 41 Greece 2 5 23 2 0 41 Hungary 2 5 28 2 0 41 Israel 2 5 29 2 0 41 Latvia 2 5 26 2 0 41 Netherlands 2 5 18 2 0 41 Norway 2 5 21 2 0 41 Portugal 2 5 22 2 0 41 Spain 2 5 15 2 0 41 Sweden 2 5 25 2 0 41 Switzerland 2 29 30 2 0 41 Kosovo 2 29 33 2 0 41 Georgia 2 29 32 2 0 66 Algeria 0 -51 0 0 66 Puerto Rico 0 -46 0 0 66 Ecuador 0 -42 0 0 66 El Salvador 0 -42 0 0 66 Barbados 0 -40 0 0 66 Honduras 0 -36 0 0 66 Paraguay 0 -36 0 0 66 India 0 -30 0 0 66 Nicaragua 0 -30 0 0 66 Saint Lucia 0 -30 0 0 66 Azerbaijan 0 -20 0 0 66 Kuwait 0 -20 0 0 66 Maldives 0 -20 0 0 66 Montenegro 0 -20 0 0 66 New Zealand 0 -20 0 0 66 Uzbekistan 0 -20 0 0 66 Afghanistan 0 4 0 0 66 Antigua & Barbuda 0 4 0 0 66 Aruba 0 4 0 0 66 Bahamas 0 4 0 0 66 Belize 0 4 0 0 66 Benin 0 4 0 0 66 Bolivia 0 4 0 0 66 Bosnia & Herzegovina 0 4 0 0 66 Botswana 0 4 0 0 66 British Virgin Islands 0 4 0 0 66 Burundi 0 4 0 0 66 Cameroon 0 4 0 0 66 Chad 0 4 0 0 66 Congo 0 4 0 0 66 Costa Rica 0 4 0 0 66 Curaçao 0 4 0 0 66 Cyprus 0 4 0 0 66 Dominica 0 4 0 0 66 Dominican Republic 0 4 0 0 66 French Saint Martin 0 4 0 0 66 Guyana 0 4 0 0 66 Indonesia 0 4 0 0 66 Ivory Coast 0 4 0 0 66 Jamaica 0 4 0 0 66 Libya 0 4 0 0 66 Liechtenstein 0 4 0 0 66 Lithuania 0 4 0 0 66 Luxembourg 0 4 0 0 66 Malaysia 0 4 0 0 66 Mali 0 4 0 0 66 Malta 0 4 0 0 66 Nigeria 0 4 0 0 66 Northern Ireland 0 4 0 0 66 Panama 0 4 0 0 66 Rwanda 0 4 0 0 66 San Marino 0 4 0 0 66 Scotland 0 4 0 0 66 South Africa 0 4 0 0 66 St Kitts and Nevis 0 4 0 0 66 Tunisia 0 4 0 0 66 United Arab Emirates 0 4 0 0 66 USA Virgin Islands 0 4 0 0 66 Venezuela 0 4 0 0 66 Vietnam 0 4 0 0 66 Wales 0 4 0 0 66 Yemen 0 4 0 0