Women’s WCH Pool A Preview – The Dutch And Hosts Japan Are Favorites

2018 FIVB VOLLEYBALL WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

• 29 September – 20 October
• Schedule
• Teams
• Pool A – Japan, Netherlands, Argentina, Germany, Cameroon, Mexico
• Yokohama Arena, Yokohama

Pool A Teams

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Argentina	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
1	Cameroon	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
1	Germany	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
1	Japan	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
1	Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
1	Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX

Pool Preview

The Netherlands are the clear favorite in this pool and should be able to go 5-0 with effort to spare. Japan and Germany also should have no trouble qualifying. The last spot remaining for qualifying purposes will be hardly fought between Argentina, Cameroon, and Mexico, with Argentina getting the slight nod over its competition. All in all, this group lasts some of the luster of the other pools, and should be one of the competition’s less exciting games.

Story Lines To Watch

• Setter Koyomi Tominaga and opposite hitter Miyu Nagaoka are both set to star in the mighty Italian A1 domestic league this season. Will they be able to show their home fans they are worthy of playing in the best league in the world?
• Setter Laura Dijkema and opposites Celeste Plak and Lonneke Slöetjes are among the world’s best opposite hitters at their respective positions. Will their play be enough to make up for the absence of injured middle blocker Robin de Kruijf?
• Argentina decided it was a good idea to kick off from its squad its best player and team captain just days prior to the competition. Just how much will they miss Yamila Nizetich?
• Mauren Fromm has over 250 caps for the German team. Will a partnership with Italy bound Louisa Lippmann guarantee a second round berth?
• Samantha Bricio, although only 23 years old, shined last year in the Italian league and is now set to star for Turkey’s Fenerbahce. However, is the lone star enough to Mexico get off the first round?
• Cameroon is the current African Champion and one of only two African teams in the tournament. Will it be able to reproduce its continental success in this big of a stage?

Schedule (Times are UTC +9)

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
29 Sep	13:10	Mexico	–	Cameroon
29 Sep	15:40	Germany	–	Netherlands
29 Sep	19:20	Argentina	–	Japan
30 Sep	13:40	Cameroon	–	Germany
30 Sep	16:10	Argentina	–	Mexico
30 Sep	19:20	Japan	–	Netherlands
1 Oct	13:40	Germany	–	Argentina
1 Oct	16:10	Netherlands	–	Cameroon
1 Oct	19:20	Mexico	–	Japan
3 Oct	13:40	Argentina	–	Netherlands
3 Oct	16:10	Mexico	–	Germany
3 Oct	19:20	Japan	–	Cameroon
4 Oct	13:40	Netherlands	–	Mexico
4 Oct	16:10	Cameroon	–	Argentina
4 Oct	19:20	Germany	–	Japan