2018 FIVB MEN’S VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE – WEEK 1
- May 25-27, 2018
- Schedule/Results
The top four teams remained undefeated in Volleyball Nations League action on Sunday with France, Italy and the United States winning in sweeps and Poland staying perfect with a four-set win over Canada.
Italy was dominant in all facets of its win over homestanding Serbia. France relied on a standout effort by Stephen Boyer to overcome its 27 miscues in a sweep of Australia. The United States switched its lineup, but the result was the same, as a balanced attack by Taylor Sander, Ben Patch and T.J. DeFalco lifted the Americans past China.
No. 14 Bulgaria pulled off a statement win over No. 7 Argentina, aided in part by Argentine coach Julio Velasco‘s decision to rest starters Pablo Crer (middle) and Ezequiel Palacios (outside) for the entire match. Though the coach seemed optimistic about his 0-3 team’s future as he hinted about roster changes ahead.
“Next week, some players who are training in Argentina will join the team.” Velasco said. “We hope that we can start winning when we have the full team.”
Japan also pulled an upset according to the world rankings, besting No. 8 Iran 3-1, behind a 21-point effort by Yuji Nishida.
Here’s a look at how things panned out on Day 3.
- Pool 1 Recap
- Pool 2: USA Recap; Bulgaria Recap
- Pool 3 Recap
- Pool 4 Recap
Standings
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  Poland |
3 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 9.000 | 247 | 207 | 1.193 |
| 2 |  France |
3 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 4.500 | 280 | 237 | 1.181 |
| 3 |  Italy |
3 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 3.000 | 280 | 236 | 1.186 |
| 4 |  United States |
3 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 3.000 | 288 | 253 | 1.138 |
| 5 |  Brazil |
2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2.667 | 252 | 246 | 1.024 |
| 6 |  Russia |
2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2.000 | 215 | 194 | 1.108 |
| 7 |  Japan |
2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 1.400 | 284 | 268 | 1.060 |
| 8 |  Bulgaria |
2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 1.167 | 279 | 280 | 0.996 |
| 9 |  China |
1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 0.833 | 233 | 239 | 0.975 |
| 10 |  Iran |
1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 0.833 | 256 | 269 | 0.952 |
| 11 |  Canada |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 0.667 | 219 | 229 | 0.956 |
| 12 |  Serbia |
1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0.429 | 217 | 227 | 0.956 |
| 13 |  Argentina |
0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0.333 | 256 | 284 | 0.901 |
| 14 |  Germany |
0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0.222 | 229 | 269 | 0.851 |
| 15 |  Australia |
0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0.111 | 213 | 259 | 0.822 |
| 16 |  South Korea |
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0.000 | 177 | 228 | 0.776 |
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