VOLLEYBALL: U.S., Italy, Serbia and Netherlands unbeaten in women’s Worlds

The round-play in round one of the FIVB Women’s World Championships has been completed in Japan, with only four teams remaining undefeated. The final first-round standings:

∙ Pool A: 1. Netherlands (5-0); 2. Japan (4-1); 3. Germany (3-2); 4. Mexico (1-4); 5. Argentina (1-4); 6. Cameroon (1-4).

∙ Pool B: 1. Italy (5-0); 2. China (4-1); 3. Turkey (3-2); 4. Bulgaria (2-3); 5. Canada (1-4); 6. Cuba (0-5).

∙ Pool C: 1. United States (5-0); 2. Russia (4-1); 3. Thailand (3-2); 4. Azerbaijan (2-3); 5. Korea (1-4); 6. Trinidad & Tobago (0-5).

∙ Pool D: 1. Serbia (5-0), Brazil (4-1); 3. Dominican Rep. (3-2); 4. Puerto Rico (2-3); 5. Kenya (1-4); 6. Kazakhstan (0-5).

The U.S. women piled up a 15-5 sets advantage in the first round, defeating Azerbaijan (3 sets to 0); Trinidad & Tobago (3-0), Korea (3-1), Thailand (3-2) and Russia (3-2). In the match-up of the world no. 2 (U.S.) vs. world no. 5 (Russia) match-up, the U.S. came from behind to win, 19-25, 25-20, 26-24, 12-25, 15-11.

“Russia started the match out very strong and pushed us on our heels,” said U.S. head coach Karch Kiraly. “I really like the way that our team responded and had great fighting spirit;. Even after a disappointing fourth set we came back strong in the fifth set.”

In the other groups, Serbia swept all five of its opponents in the first round and Italy won 15 of 16 sets.

In the second round, the first-round results will carry over, so:

∙ Pool E: 1. Serbia (5-0); 2. Netherlands (5-0); 3. Japan (4-1); 4. Brazil (4-1); 5. Germany (3-2); 6. Dominican Republic (3-2); 7. Puerto Rico (2-3); 8. Mexico (1-4).

∙ Pool F: 1. Italy (5-0): 2. United States (5-0); 3. China (4-1); 4. Russia (4-1); 5. Thailand (3-2); 6. Turkey (3-2); 7. Azerbaijan (2-3); 8. Bulgaria (2-3).

The second round-robin will determine the final pool of six (top three from each second-round pool). Look for scores and standings here.