Only two teams escaped the first week of pool play at the 2018 FIVB Nations League with an undefeated record, and just one came away with the maximum 9 points. The Netherlands swept Russia 3-0, while Turkey beat Poland by the same score on Thursday to wrap their opening weekend of play.
Turkey is 1 point behind the Netherlands, but tied in the win column, after a 3-0 win over Poland. The European bronze medalists aren’t so much a surprise team to emerge 3-0, but their performances have caught international attention.
The new format for this new tournament runs 5 weeks, 2 longer than the predecessor Grand Prix, and many teams have taken a ‘we have time’ tact in the first week of play. For a team like Italy, last year’s runners-up, who brought a roster that included only 2 of their 14 players from the team in last year’s final, that leaves them precariously perched in 15th place, just a few tie-breakers ahead of dead last. They’ll now need to chase two wins in each pool to assure a spot in the final 6, and even that might not be enough.
The Americans come away 2-1, which is where they need to be to remain in the hunt for the Final 6. They have a week 2 pool in Japan that could be another 2-winner against Japan, the Netherlands, and Belgium, but then will play a brutal 3rd week against Brazil, China, and Russia.
There were a few upsets, and a few “upsets,” on Thursday to close out the first week of action. China showed their first hint of vulnerability when they were swept 3-0 by South Korea. The young Chinese squad cracked under the pressure of their more experienced regional rivals. Meanwhile Serbia lost 3-1 to Brazil, the defending Grand Prix champions. While that shouldn’t really be an upset on paper, after Brazil’s 3-1 loss to Germany to open the tournament, it is a nice recovery from the hosts of pool 4
- Pool 1 recap (Netherlands, Russia, Argentina, Thailand)
- Pool 2 recap (China, Belgium, Dominican Republic, South Korea)
- Pool 3 recap (USA, Italy, Turkey, Poland) Recap 1 Turkey vs. Italy | Recap 2 USA vs. Poland
- Pool 4 recap (Brazil, Germany, Serbia Japan)
| 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 |
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