2018 FIVB VOLLEYBALL WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
- 29 September – 20 October
- Schedule
- Teams
- Pool D – Brazil, Serbia, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Kazakhstan, Kenya
- Hamamatsu Arena, Hamamatsu
The top two forces in Pool D of the 2018 Women’s Volleyball World Championship tournament, Serbia and Brazil, rolled through their 2nd-straight matches on Sunday in Hamamatsu via 3-0 sweeps and sit with identical records atop the pool.
Meanwhile, in the day’s biggest ‘rubber match,’ Puerto Rico topped Kazakhstan 3-0. That all-but-eliminates Kazakhstan from advancement to the 2nd round of the tournament.
#4 Brazil def. #9 Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-22)
- Brazil moves to 2-0 (6 points); DR falls to 0-2 (0 points)
- Attendance: 1,550
- Match Stats
Led by 15 points from Gabi, Brazil swept the Dominican Republic 3-0 to open Sunday’s play in Hamamatsu. In 2 matches so far in this tournament, Brazilian outside hitter Tandara Caixeta hasn’t yet led Brazil in scoring. After being a 30-point machine in the Nations League, she missed some of the team’s preparation for this tournament with a shoulder injury, which could be impacting her play so far this weekend.
Regardless, this was another dominant performance by Brazil. Caixeta had 14 points and hit 40%, while Fernanda Garay had 11.
The Dominican Republic was led by 10 points from opposite Gaila Gonzalez (9 kills, 1 block), with the team’s star Brayelin Martinez being held to just 7 points (6/22 hitting, 27%). Albeit the team’s 2nd match against a top team in the Pool, Martinez hasn’t been her usual explosive self in this tournament, hitting only 29.5% through 2 matches.
Key Match Stats:
- Brazil hit just 35% as a team in the win, and had 0 aces. They had only 4 aces in their win over Puerto Rico. If Brazil can’t keep Serbia off-balance with serving, which can be a weak point for the Serbians, then they’re going to have trouble pulling out a win.
- While their service struggled, Brazilians blockers continued to rock their opponents. With 14 more stuffs against the Dominican Republic, they’re now up to 25 in just 6 sets. They rank 2nd only behind China (26, 4.3/set) with 25 blocks (4.1/set)
- Lisvel Mejia of the DR had 3 kills and 3 blocks in the match after playing sparingly against Serbia on Saturday. She’s now the team’s leader in blocks, in spite of only playing just-over 3 sets.
#13 Puerto Rico def. #21 Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-22)
- Puerto Rico moves to 1-1 (3 points); Kazakhstan falls to 0-2 (0 points)
- Attendance: 850
- Match Stats
Puerto Rico kept their hopes of advancement alive by sweeping Kazakhstan on Sunday 3-0. They were led by 16 points each from Daly Santana and Stephanie Enright, and had a 9-1 service ace advantage in the match over Kazakhstan.
For the 2nd-straight game, Kazakhstan looked outmatched and disengaged from the tournament. Their captain Radmila Beresneva punted to her coach in post-match comments, and coach Shapran FVyacheslav blamed a lack of training after the Asian Games and injuries to some of their main players for the performance.
With the loss, Kazakhstan is all-but-eliminated from contention to advance to the 2nd round of the tournament.
A bright spot for Kazakhstan was the play of their middle blockers, and especially Yana Petrenko. She had 4 blocks in the match to lead all players, and Kazakhstan had an overall 11-7 blocking advantage in the match, in spite of Puerto Rico’s overall size advantage.
Key Match Stats:
- The 2nd set saw Puerto Rico carry an 8-0 lead early, with Kazakhstan hitting a number of unforced errors in the most lopsided set of the match.
- Kazakhstan had some life with a 3-0 lead over Puerto Rico in the 3rd, but a well-placed timeout sparked PR to win 9 of the next 11 points.
- Kazakhstan hit just 31% in the match. Only Argentina has a lower hitting percentage than their 33.8% through 2 contests, and only T&T and Kenya have been less efficient.
- Puerto Rico’s hitters have been boom-and-bust in this tournament: their 47 hitting errors are the most of the tournament so far, in spite of only having played the minimum 6 sets through 2 days. Still, they improved from 25 total errors in the loss to Brazil to just 16 in the win over Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan only gave up 12 points on errors, but their lackadaisical hitting led to a 52-14 digs advantage for Puerto Rico.
#3 Serbia def. #33 Kenya 3-0 (25-16, 26-9, 25-8)
- Serbia moves to 2-0 (6 points); Kenya falls to 1-1 (3 points)
- Attendance: 350
- Match Stats
Just like their continental partners Cameroon did in Pool A, Kenya came back-to-earth after their history making, first-ever World Championship win on Saturday. They were handled by Serbia in just 61 minutes – the shortest match of the tournament so far – thanks to very few rallies and very few Kenyan points. Serbia very-nearly broke several defensive scoring records in the match, even holding Kenya to 8 points in the 3rd set when Kenya had all of their starters on the court, but Serbia was playing nearly a full lineup of reserves.
Jovana Stevanovic led Serbia with 9 points on 6-for-7 hitting, and was the only Serbian player to go the distance. Her 86% hitting wasn’t alone in the match – Brankica Mihajlovic hit 7-for-8 in 2 sets of play (87.5%), and Stefana Veljkovic hit 6-for-6 in 2 sets of play (100%). Serbia hit 62.1% as a team and now lead all nations in hitting success rate in the tournament.
Mercy Moim, the MVP of Kenya’s Saturday win, was held to just 7-for-27 hitting in the match. She had 7 of her team’s 18 kills.
Top Hitting Teams, through Day 2:
- Serbia, 55.6%
- Germany, 51.6%
- Italy, 50.7%
Pool D Standings, After September 30th
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  Serbia |
2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | MAX | 150 | 91 | 1.648 |
| 2 |  Brazil |
2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | MAX | 152 | 101 | 1.505 |
| 3 |  Puerto Rico |
1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1.000 | 119 | 135 | 0.881 |
| 4 |  Kenya |
1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1.000 | 108 | 135 | 0.800 |
| 5 |  Kazakhstan |
0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.000 | 124 | 150 | 0.827 |
| 6 |  Dominican Republic |
0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.000 | 116 | 150 | 0.773 |
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Sep | 13:40 | Puerto Rico |
0–3 | Brazil |
25–27 | 12–25 | 7–25 | 44–77 | P2 Report | ||
| 29 Sep | 16:10 | Dominican Republic |
0–3 | Serbia |
17–25 | 20–25 | 22–25 | 59–75 | P2 Report | ||
| 29 Sep | 19:20 | Kazakhstan |
0–3 | Kenya |
23–25 | 22–25 | 21–25 | 66–75 | P2 Report | ||
| 30 Sep | 13:40 | Brazil |
3–0 | Dominican Republic |
25–15 | 25–20 | 25–22 | 75–57 | P2 Report | ||
| 30 Sep | 16:10 | Kazakhstan |
0–3 | Puerto Rico |
21–25 | 15–25 | 22–25 | 58–75 | P2 Report | ||
| 30 Sep | 19:20 | Kenya |
0–3 | Serbia |
16–25 | 9–25 | 8–25 | 33–75 | P2 Report | ||
| 1 Oct | 13:40 | Dominican Republic |
– | Kazakhstan |
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| 1 Oct | 16:10 | Puerto Rico |
– | Kenya |
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| 1 Oct | 19:20 | Serbia |
– | Brazil |
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| 3 Oct | 13:40 | Puerto Rico |
– | Dominican Republic |
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| 3 Oct | 16:10 | Kazakhstan |
– | Serbia |
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| 3 Oct | 19:20 | Kenya |
– | Brazil |
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| 4 Oct | 13:40 | Serbia |
– | Puerto Rico |
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| 4 Oct | 16:10 | Dominican Republic |
– | Kenya |
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| 4 Oct | 19:20 | Brazil |
– | Kazakhstan |
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