Women’s WCH Pool D Preview – Brazil And Serbia Are Favorites

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

Pool D Teams

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
1	Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
1	Kazakhstan	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
1	Kenya	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
1	Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX
1	Serbia	0	0	0	0	0	MAX	0	0	MAX

Pool Preview

This group will be a piece of cake for Brazil and Serbia, as both teams should run through its competition, although the current Olympic silver medalists and European Champions should have the edge and finish in first place. Of the remaining teams, the Dominican Republic should grab the third seed, while Puerto Rico, which really lucked out in the pool drawings, will probably beat out Kazakhstan and Kenya to close off the pool.

Story Lines To Watch

• Brazil has won 2 Olympic, 2 Grand Champions Cup, and 12 Grand Prix gold medals, but it has never won an WCH title. Does the streak end this year?
• Serbia is one of the hardest hitting teams in the world and plays the volleyball of the future. It is taking to the WCH most of its 2016 Olympic silver medal roster, so fans can expect something great to happen.
• The Dominican Republic is a fun, athletic team to follow. Although that doesn’t always translate into wins, seeing one of the best liberos in the world in Brenda Castillo and athletic freaks such as Brayelin Martinez is always an spectacle in itself.
• Once the strongest team in the African continent, the Kenyan team has stalled recently. There has been complaints within the team about the country’s volleyball federation lack of funding of the sport just a few days prior to its trip to Japan. Will it affect the players?
• Puerto Rico announced Jose Mieles as its new head coach just weeks prior to the tournament. Did he have time to organize its squad, or will the team be a big mess?
• Kazakhstan has started to be relevant in Asian play. Will it translate to the big stages?

Schedule (Times are UTC +9)

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
29 Sep	13:40	Puerto Rico	–	Brazil
29 Sep	16:10	Dominican Republic	–	Serbia
29 Sep	19:20	Kazakhstan	–	Kenya
30 Sep	13:40	Brazil	–	Dominican Republic
30 Sep	16:10	Kazakhstan	–	Puerto Rico
30 Sep	19:20	Kenya	–	Serbia
1 Oct	13:40	Dominican Republic	–	Kazakhstan
1 Oct	16:10	Puerto Rico	–	Kenya
1 Oct	19:20	Serbia	–	Brazil
3 Oct	13:40	Puerto Rico	–	Dominican Republic
3 Oct	16:10	Kazakhstan	–	Serbia
3 Oct	19:20	Kenya	–	Brazil
4 Oct	13:40	Serbia	–	Puerto Rico
4 Oct	16:10	Dominican Republic	–	Kenya
4 Oct	19:20	Brazil	–	Kazakhstan