2018 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League
- May 15 – July 2, 2018
- Schedule/Results
Just two spots are still available in the Volleyball Nations League Final Six after the close of play on Tuesday as two more teams punched their tickets to China.
Brazil cemented its spot with a four-set win over Belgium, while Serbia recorded the upset of the day with a four-set win over the United States to earn its place in the Finals. The two join the Americans, who were the first team through, claiming their spot last week.
A couple of other Tuesday results kept teams in the running with the Netherlands edging Turkey in five sets. Currently, the Dutch are now in fourth at 10-3 with 28 points. Turkey checks in in fifth place at 9-4 with 29 points.
China is guaranteed a Final Six spot as the host side.
With six points left up for grabs as each team has two games left to play, Italy is the last team with a shot at squeezing its way into the Final Six. The Italians crushed Thailand in a sweep on Tuesday to keep their hope alive at 8-5 (24 points).
Other results from Tuesday’s action saw Poland edge past Japan in five sets behind a 33-point effort by Malwina Smarzek, and winless Argentina finally break through against South Korea.
Here’s a look at how Tuesday’s results hashed out.
Scenarios
Italy must win both of its remaining matches to have a shot at the Final Six.
Standings are decided on the following terms:
- Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost)
- In a tie, teams will be ranked by points gained
- In a tie in points, set quotient follows (division of sets won by number of sets lost)
With that in mind, Italy could reach 10 wins, but must still play Belgium and Brazil.
The Netherlands already has 10 wins, but could be matched or surpassed on points. The Dutch are yet to play top seeded China and upset-minded Germany.
Turkey sits at nine wins, and could claim its spot with a victory, which would give the team a minimum of 31 points (with two the least available in a victory: 5 sets), which Italy cannot reach. Remaining on Turkey’s slate are Germany and China.
Standings
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  United States |
11 | 2 | 34 | 36 | 8 | 4.500 | 1077 | 898 | 1.199 |
| 2 |  Brazil |
11 | 2 | 31 | 35 | 16 | 2.188 | 1182 | 1049 | 1.127 |
| 3 |  Serbia |
10 | 3 | 31 | 35 | 15 | 2.333 | 1170 | 1037 | 1.128 |
| 4 |  Netherlands |
10 | 3 | 28 | 33 | 16 | 2.063 | 1135 | 1007 | 1.127 |
| 5 |  Turkey |
9 | 4 | 29 | 34 | 17 | 2.000 | 1158 | 1077 | 1.075 |
| 6 |  Italy |
8 | 5 | 24 | 28 | 20 | 1.400 | 1051 | 976 | 1.077 |
| 7 |  China |
7 | 6 | 22 | 27 | 21 | 1.286 | 1058 | 987 | 1.072 |
| 8 |  Russia |
7 | 6 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 0.958 | 1033 | 1033 | 1.000 |
| 9 |  Poland |
7 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 26 | 0.962 | 1139 | 1066 | 1.068 |
| 10 |  Japan |
6 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 26 | 0.846 | 1015 | 1061 | 0.957 |
| 11 |  Germany |
5 | 8 | 15 | 21 | 29 | 0.724 | 1063 | 1121 | 0.948 |
| 12 |  South Korea |
5 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 28 | 0.571 | 856 | 915 | 0.936 |
| 13 |  Belgium |
3 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 32 | 0.469 | 957 | 1085 | 0.882 |
| 14 |  Dominican Republic |
2 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 33 | 0.364 | 876 | 1057 | 0.829 |
| 15 |  Thailand |
2 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 35 | 0.429 | 1052 | 1163 | 0.905 |
| 16 |  Argentina |
1 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 0.139 | 654 | 944 | 0.693 |
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