Italy, China Joins Serbia in Final 6; United States Still Not Clinched

2018 FIVB WOMEN’S Volleyball WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sept. 29-Oct. 20, 2018
Schedule/Results
Teams

Italy and China have joined Serbia as having clinched their spots in the Final 6 of the 2018 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship tournament. Along with Serbia, who qualified on Tuesday and proceeded to lose their first sets, and match, of the tournament on Wednesday, with Tijana Boskovic on the bench for most of the day, that makes half of the Final 6 field set.

The remaining teams fighting for 2 spots in Pool E are Japan, Netherlands, and Brazil; while there are 2 teams fighting for 1 spot in Pool F: the US and Russia. The US, in spite of suffering their first loss of the entire tournament on Wednesday, is still on the brink of not advancing, depending on the outcome of Thursdays matches.

Teams In to the Final 6:

#3 Serbia
#7 Italy
#1 China

Teams Whose Fates Are Undecided:

#2 United States
#4 Brazil
#5 Russia
#6 Japan
#8 Netherlands

Teams Eliminated From Contention:

#9 Dominican Republic
#12 Turkey
#13 Germany
#13 Puerto Rico
#16 Thailand
#17 Bulgaria
#24 Azerbaijan
#26 Mexico

Based on FIVB World Rankings.

While the way the schedule was set up left some uninspiring matches early in round 2, it has created lots of drama at the end.

In Pool E, Japan’s big win over Serbia was a huge boost to their chances.

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L	Pts	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Serbia (Adv.)	7	1	21	22	3	7.333	621	457	1.359
2	Japan	7	1	21	23	6	3.833	697	563	1.238
3	Netherlands	7	1	21	23	6	3.833	681	586	1.162
4	Brazil	6	2	18	20	9	2.222	683	542	1.260
5	GermanyX	5	3	14	16	12	1.333	666	639	1.042
6	Dominican RepublicX	4	4	13	14	12	1.167	571	528	1.081
7	Puerto RicoX	2	6	6	7	18	0.389	522	598	0.873
8	MexicoX	1	7	3	5	21	0.238	489	631	0.775

Serbia and the Netherlands play first, so Japan and Brazil will know exactly what they need to do to advance.

To advance, Japan needs:

1 set win over Brazil

To advance, the Netherlands needs:

1 set win over Serbia (which feels more likely now that Serbia has clinched their spot in the Final 6)

AND

1 more set win than Japan (because it’s unlikely that the Netherlands will catch Brazil or Japan in points ratio), OR
A Japanese win

To advance, Brazil needs:

A 3-0 sweep over Japan

(Brazil has a nearly-insurmountable lead in points ratio over Netherlands, but not over Japan)

In Pool F, the US has to play an already-qualified Italy, and Russia has to play an already-qualified China, to advance. The US and Italy play first, so Russia may know if they’re eliminated before their match begins. The Americans still control their own destinies.

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L	Pts	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Italy	8	0	24	24	2	12.000	643	458	1.404
2	China	7	1	21	22	4	5.500	636	520	1.223
3	United States	7	1	19	21	8	2.625	663	563	1.178
4	Russia	6	2	18	21	9	2.333	691	586	1.179
5	Turkey	4	4	12	12	14	0.857	566	546	1.037
6	Thailand	3	5	11	15	19	0.789	689	729	0.945
7	Bulgaria	3	5	8	11	18	0.611	599	663	0.903
8	Azerbaijan	2	6	6	8	19	0.421	571	631	0.905