VOLLEYBALL: U.S., Turkey and Italy stay perfect in Women’s Nations League opening round

The first weekend of the FIVB Women’s Nations League is complete and the defending champion U.S. had no trouble in sweeping their first pool, winning their three matches in Ruse (BUL):

21 May: U.S. d. Belgium, 3-0 (25-23, 25-8, 25-22)
22 May: U.S. d. Japan, 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 25-20)
23 May: U.S. d. Bulgaria, 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-21)

The only other teams to win all three matches were Turkey and Italy, with five teams at 2-1: Poland, Brazil, Serbia, Dominican Republic and Belgium.

The U.S. and Turks both won nine of 10 sets played in the first week; Italy won nine of 11.

The round-robin will continue this week, with the U.S. headed to Conegliano Veneto (ITA) for a series of difficult matches with Serbia (28th), Italy (29th) and the Dominican Republic (30th).

Last season, the U.S. finished 13-2 in the round-robin, losing only to Turkey (3-2) and Serbia (3-1). In the final, the American women beat both of those teams to move to the semis, then beat China and Turkey to win the seasonal title.

The full league schedule is here.