2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League

2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League

Lille, host city of the final round
Tournament details
Host nation	France
City	Lille (final round)
Dates	25 May – 8 July
Teams	16 (from 4 confederations)
Venue(s)	22 (in 22 host cities)
Champions	Russia (1st title)
Runners-up	France
Third place	United States
Fourth place	Brazil
Tournament awards
MVP	Maxim Mikhaylov
Best Setter	Benjamin Toniutti
Best OH	Taylor Sander Dmitry Volkov
Best MB	Kévin Le Roux Dmitry Muserskiy
Best OPP	Matt Anderson
Best Libero	Jenia Grebennikov
Tournament statistics
Matches played	130
Attendance	494,775 (3,806 per match)
Official website
Volleyball Nations League
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The 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League was the inaugural edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League, a new annual international men's volleyball tournament contested by 16 national teams that replaced the former World League in the international calendar. ^[1] The competition was held between May and July 2018, and the final round took place in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, Lille metropolitan area, France. ^{[2] [3]}

South Korea were the last placed challenger team after the preliminary round and were replaced by 2018 Challenger Cup winners Portugal in the 2019 edition. ^[4]

Russia won the inaugural edition, defeating the home team in straight sets in the final. ^[5] Both teams contesting the final had previously won the World League – Russia on three opportunities and France on two. United States, which also had won the World League twice, defeated the reigning Olympic champions and 9-time World League winners Brazil in straight sets for the bronze medal. ^[6] Maxim Mikhaylov from Russia, who was the World League MVP in 2011, was elected the Most valuable player. ^[7]

Qualification

Sixteen teams qualified for the competition. Twelve of them qualified as core teams which cannot face relegation. Other four teams were selected as challenger teams which could be relegated from the tournament. ^[1]

Country	Confederation	Designation	Previous appearances			Previous best performance
			Total	First	Last
Argentina	CSV	Core team	0	None		None
Australia	AVC	Challenger team	0	None		None
Brazil	CSV	Core team	0	None		None
Bulgaria	CEV	Challenger team	0	None		None
Canada	NORCECA	Challenger team	0	None		None
China	AVC	Core team	0	None		None
France	CEV	Core team	0	None		None
Germany	CEV	Core team	0	None		None
Iran	AVC	Core team	0	None		None
Italy	CEV	Core team	0	None		None
Japan	AVC	Core team	0	None		None
Poland	CEV	Core team	0	None		None
Russia	CEV	Core team	0	None		None
Serbia	CEV	Core team	0	None		None
South Korea	AVC	Challenger team	0	None		None
United States	NORCECA	Core team	0	None		None

Format

Preliminary round

The 16 teams compete in a round-robin format with every core team hosting a pool at least once. The teams are divided into 4 pools of 4 teams at each week and compete five weeks long, for 120 matches. The top five teams after the preliminary round join the hosts of the final round to compete in the final round. ^[1] The relegation takes into consideration only the 4 challenger teams. The last ranked challenger team will be excluded from the 2019 Nations League. The winners of the 2018 Challenger Cup will qualify for the next edition as a challenger team. ^[8]

Final round

The six qualified teams play in 2 pools of 3 teams in round-robin. The top 2 teams of each pool qualify for the semifinals. The pool winners play against the runners-up in this round. The semifinals winners advance to compete for the Nations League title. The losers face each other in the third place match.

Pools composition

The overview of pools was released on February 16, 2018. ^[2]

Preliminary round

Week 1
Pool 1 France	Pool 2 China	Pool 3 Poland	Pool 4 Serbia
Australia   France   Iran   Japan	Argentina   Bulgaria   China   United States	Canada   Poland   Russia   South Korea	Brazil   Germany   Italy   Serbia
Week 2
Pool 5 Bulgaria	Pool 6 Brazil	Pool 7 Argentina	Pool 8 Poland
Australia   Bulgaria   Russia   Serbia	Brazil   Japan   South Korea   United States	Argentina   Canada   Iran   Italy	China   France   Germany   Poland
Week 3
Pool 9 Canada	Pool 10 Japan	Pool 11 Russia	Pool 12 France
Australia   Canada   Germany   United States	Bulgaria   Italy   Japan   Poland	Brazil   China   Iran   Russia	Argentina   France   Serbia   South Korea
Week 4
Pool 13 South Korea	Pool 14 Germany	Pool 15 United States	Pool 16 Bulgaria
Australia   China   Italy   South Korea	Argentina   Germany   Japan   Russia	Iran   Poland   Serbia   United States	Brazil   Bulgaria   Canada   France
Week 5
Pool 17 Australia	Pool 18 China	Pool 19 Iran	Pool 20 Italy
Argentina   Australia   Brazil   Poland	Canada   China   Japan   Serbia	Bulgaria   Germany   Iran   South Korea	France   Italy   Russia   United States

Final round

Pool A	Pool B
France (Hosts)   Serbia (Preliminary Round 3rd)   Brazil (Preliminary Round 4th)	Russia (Preliminary Round 1st)   United States (Preliminary Round 2nd)   Poland (Preliminary Round 5th)

Venues

The list of host cities and venues was announced on 16 February 2018. ^[2]

Preliminary round

Week 1
Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3	Pool 4
Rouen, France	Ningbo, China	Katowice (25 May) / Kraków (26–27 May), Poland	Kraljevo, Serbia
Kindarena	Beilun Gymnasium	Spodek / Tauron Arena Kraków	Kraljevo Sports Hall
Capacity: 5,700	Capacity: 8,000	Capacity: 11,500 / 15,000	Capacity: 3,331
Week 2
Pool 5	Pool 6	Pool 7	Pool 8
Sofia, Bulgaria	Goiânia, Brazil	San Juan, Argentina	Łódź, Poland
Armeets Arena	Goiânia Arena	Estadio Aldo Cantoni	Atlas Arena
Capacity: 12,373	Capacity: 11,333	Capacity: 8,000	Capacity: 13,805
Week 3
Pool 9	Pool 10	Pool 11	Pool 12
Ottawa, Canada	Osaka, Japan	Ufa, Russia	Aix-en-Provence, France
TD Place Arena	Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium	Ufa Arena	Aréna du Pays d'Aix
Capacity: 9,500	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 8,250	Capacity: 6,004
Week 4
Pool 13	Pool 14	Pool 15	Pool 16
Seoul, South Korea	Ludwigsburg, Germany	Hoffman Estates, United States	Varna, Bulgaria
Jangchung Arena	Arena Ludwigsburg	Sears Centre Arena	Palace of Culture and Sports
Capacity: 4,507	Capacity: 5,325	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 6,000
Week 5
Pool 17	Pool 18	Pool 19	Pool 20
Melbourne, Australia	Jiangmen, China	Tehran, Iran	Modena, Italy
Hisense Arena	Jiangmen Sports Center Gymnasium	Azadi Indoor Stadium	PalaPanini
Capacity: 10,500	Capacity: 8,500	Capacity: 12,000	Capacity: 4,968

Final round

All matches
Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France
Stade Pierre-Mauroy
Capacity: 28,010

Competition schedule

●

Preliminary round

●

Final round

Week 1 25–27 May	Week 2 1–3 Jun	Week 3 8–10 Jun	Week 4 15–17 Jun	Week 5 22–24 Jun	Week 6 Rest Week	Week 7 4–8 Jul
24 matches	24 matches	24 matches	24 matches	24 matches		10 matches

Pool standing procedure

1. Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost)
2. In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker will apply: The teams will be ranked by the most points gained per match as follows:
   • Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser
   • Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser
   • Match forfeited: 3 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser
3. If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, then the FIVB will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order:
   • Sets quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all sets won by the number of all sets lost.
   • Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the sets quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets.
   • If the tie persists based on the points quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. When the tie in points quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.

Squads

Main article: 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League squads

The 16 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 21 players, which every week's 14-player roster must be selected from. Each country must declare its 14-player roster two days before the start of each week's round-robin competition.

Preliminary round

Ranking

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	France [lower-alpha 1]	15	12	3	35	38	16	2.375	1295	1140	1.136	Final round
2	Russia	15	11	4	34	36	14	2.571	1191	1096	1.087	Final round
3	United States	15	11	4	33	37	19	1.947	1294	1183	1.094
4	Serbia	15	11	4	29	33	24	1.375	1289	1255	1.027
5	Brazil	15	10	5	30	34	21	1.619	1280	1213	1.055
6	Poland	15	10	5	29	32	19	1.684	1221	1124	1.086
7	Canada	15	8	7	25	29	24	1.208	1219	1227	0.993
8	Italy	15	8	7	24	30	28	1.071	1315	1296	1.015
9	Germany	15	7	8	23	29	30	0.967	1299	1307	0.994
10	Iran	15	7	8	21	29	30	0.967	1355	1344	1.008
11	Bulgaria	15	6	9	17	26	34	0.765	1288	1351	0.953
12	Japan	15	6	9	15	23	37	0.622	1301	1374	0.947
13	Australia	15	5	10	15	21	35	0.600	1236	1340	0.922
14	Argentina	15	4	11	15	23	34	0.676	1270	1326	0.958
15	China	15	3	12	9	15	39	0.385	1173	1291	0.909
16	South Korea	15	1	14	6	11	42	0.262	1108	1267	0.875	Excluded from the 2019 Nations League

Source: VNL 2018 standings
Notes:

1. Qualified as hosts

Week 1

Pool 1

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
25 May	17:00	Australia	1–3	Japan	18–25	15–25	25–23	17–25		75–98	P2 Report
25 May	20:00	France	3–1	Iran	25–20	24–26	25–20	25–17		99–83	P2 Report
26 May	17:00	Australia	0–3	Iran	23–25	23–25	21–25			67–75	P2 Report
26 May	20:00	France	3–1	Japan	25–16	20–25	25–20	25–22		95–83	P2 Report
27 May	15:00	Iran	1–3	Japan	22–25	28–30	25–23	23–25		98–103	P2 Report
27 May	18:00	France	3–0	Australia	25–17	25–20	36–34			86–71	P2 Report

Pool 2

• All times are China Standard Time (UTC+08:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
25 May	16:00	Argentina	2–3	United States	27–25	26–24	24–26	21–25	10–15	108–115	P2 Report
25 May	19:30	China	2–3	Bulgaria	18–25	25–18	25–19	17–25	11–15	96–102	P2 Report
26 May	16:00	Bulgaria	1–3	United States	19–25	25–22	19–25	20–25		83–97	P2 Report
26 May	19:30	China	3–0	Argentina	25–22	25–21	25–18			75–61	P2 Report
27 May	16:00	Bulgaria	3–1	Argentina	19–25	25–19	25–21	25–22		94–87	P2 Report
27 May	19:30	China	0–3	United States	20–25	24–26	18–25			62–76	P2 Report

Pool 3

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
25 May	16:00	Poland	3–0	South Korea	25–20	25–18	25–21			75–59	P2 Report
25 May	19:00	Russia	3–0	Canada	26–24	25–14	25–19			76–57	P2 Report
26 May	16:00	Poland	3–0	Russia	25–15	25–23	25–23			75–61	P2 Report
26 May	19:00	Canada	3–0	South Korea	25–20	25–17	25–19			75–56	P2 Report
27 May	16:00	Poland	3–1	Canada	25–21	26–24	21–25	25–17		97–87	P2 Report
27 May	19:00	South Korea	0–3	Russia	26–28	21–25	15–25			62–78	P2 Report

Pool 4

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
25 May	17:00	Germany	1–3	Italy	18–25	19–25	25–23	20–25		82–98	P2 Report
25 May	20:00	Serbia	0–3	Brazil	22–25	22–25	24–26			68–76	P2 Report
26 May	16:00	Italy	3–2	Brazil	18–25	25–19	25–21	24–26	15–8	107–99	P2 Report
26 May	19:00	Germany	1–3	Serbia	25–19	21–25	16–25	14–25		76–94	P2 Report
27 May	16:00	Brazil	3–0	Germany	26–24	25–23	26–24			77–71	P2 Report
27 May	19:00	Italy	3–0	Serbia	25–21	25–18	25–16			75–55	P2 Report

Week 2

Pool 5

• All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
1 Jun	17:00	Australia	1–3	Russia	18–25	19–25	25–18	22–25		84–93	P2 Report
1 Jun	20:00	Bulgaria	2–3	Serbia	17–25	25–23	25–23	21–25	14–16	102–112	P2 Report
2 Jun	17:00	Russia	2–3	Serbia	25–20	23–25	23–25	25–22	12–15	108–107	P2 Report
2 Jun	20:05	Bulgaria	0–3	Australia	23–25	23–25	24–26			70–76	P2 Report
3 Jun	17:00	Serbia	3–2	Australia	25–23	25–19	20–25	25–27	15–9	110–103	P2 Report
3 Jun	20:00	Bulgaria	0–3	Russia	17–25	15–25	21–25			53–75	P2 Report

Pool 6

• All times are Brasília Time (UTC−03:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
1 Jun	12:15	Japan	2–3	United States	25–23	25–13	18–25	20–25	10–15	98–101	P2 Report
1 Jun	15:05	Brazil	3–0	South Korea	25–21	25–19	25–19			75–59	P2 Report
2 Jun	08:35	Brazil	3–0	Japan	26–24	25–19	25–20			76–63	P2 Report
2 Jun	11:20	South Korea	0–3	United States	23–25	21–25	11–25			55–75	P2 Report
3 Jun	10:05	South Korea	2–3	Japan	29–27	19–25	25–16	26–28	12–15	111–111	P2 Report
3 Jun	13:20	Brazil	3–2	United States	21–25	20–25	25–19	25–20	20–18	111–107	P2 Report

Pool 7

• All times are Argentina Time (UTC−03:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
1 Jun	18:10	Canada	3–1	Italy	22–25	27–25	25–23	25–16		99–89	P2 Report
1 Jun	21:10	Argentina	2–3	Iran	25–21	22–25	22–25	26–24	9–15	104–110	P2 Report
2 Jun	18:10	Iran	0–3	Italy	23–25	18–25	20–25			61–75	P2 Report
2 Jun	21:10	Argentina	1–3	Canada	22–25	18–25	26–24	23–25		89–99	P2 Report
3 Jun	16:10	Iran	1–3	Canada	23–25	22–25	25–21	21–25		91–96	P2 Report
3 Jun	19:10	Argentina	3–0	Italy	25–19	33–31	25–20			83–70	P2 Report

Pool 8

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
1 Jun	16:00	Poland	3–0	France	25–19	25–20	25–22			75–61	P2 Report
1 Jun	19:00	China	1–3	Germany	25–23	18–25	22–25	21–25		86–98	P2 Report
2 Jun	16:00	Poland	3–0	China	25–19	25–18	25–21			75–58	P2 Report
2 Jun	19:00	Germany	0–3	France	21–25	18–25	23–25			62–75	P2 Report
3 Jun	16:00	Poland	1–3	Germany	18–25	21–25	25–21	25–27		89–98	P2 Report
3 Jun	19:00	France	2–3	China	25–16	22–25	21–25	25–16	13–15	106–97	P2 Report

Week 3

Pool 9

• All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
8 Jun	16:40	Germany	3–0	United States	25–19	25–22	25–13			75–54	P2 Report
8 Jun	19:40	Canada	3–0	Australia	25–19	26–24	25–19			76–62	P2 Report
9 Jun	16:10	United States	3–1	Australia	20–25	25–20	25–15	25–17		95–77	P2 Report
9 Jun	19:10	Canada	1–3	Germany	23–25	22–25	25–20	19–25		89–95	P2 Report
10 Jun	13:10	Australia	3–2	Germany	25–22	18–25	17–25	25–18	15–11	100–101	P2 Report
10 Jun	16:10	Canada	1–3	United States	25–23	13–25	19–25	20–25		77–98	P2 Report

Pool 10

• All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
8 Jun	15:40	Italy	2–3	Poland	17–25	25–21	17–25	31–29	10–15	100–115	P2 Report
8 Jun	19:10	Japan	0–3	Bulgaria	14–25	21–25	27–29			62–79	P2 Report
9 Jun	12:40	Italy	3–1	Bulgaria	25–23	25–19	21–25	25–19		96–86	P2 Report
9 Jun	16:10	Japan	0–3	Poland	16–25	21–25	20–25			57–75	P2 Report
10 Jun	11:10	Bulgaria	1–3	Poland	21–25	26–24	18–25	19–25		84–99	P2 Report
10 Jun	14:40	Japan	3–2	Italy	21–25	25–21	23–25	25–22	15–10	109–103	P2 Report

Pool 11

• All times are Yekaterinburg Time (UTC+05:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
8 Jun	16:30	China	0–3	Iran	19–25	20–25	15–25			54–75	P2 Report
8 Jun	19:00	Russia	1–3	Brazil	21–25	20–25	27–25	18–25		86–100	P2 Report
9 Jun	16:30	Iran	2–3	Brazil	17–25	25–23	19–25	25–21	13–15	99–109	P2 Report
9 Jun	19:00	Russia	3–0	China	25–23	25–23	31–29			81–75	P2 Report
10 Jun	16:30	China	0–3	Brazil	20–25	19–25	25–27			64–77	P2 Report
10 Jun	19:00	Russia	3–1	Iran	28–30	25–23	27–25	25–21		105–99	P2 Report

Pool 12

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
8 Jun	17:00	Argentina	1–3	Serbia	25–20	23–25	15–25	22–25		85–95	P2 Report
8 Jun	20:45	France	3–0	South Korea	25–21	25–18	25–22			75–61	P2 Report
9 Jun	18:00	France	3–1	Argentina	25–18	25–16	23–25	25–20		98–79	P2 Report
9 Jun	21:00	South Korea	0–3	Serbia	16–25	23–25	19–25			58–75	P2 Report
10 Jun	15:00	South Korea	0–3	Argentina	20–25	23–25	24–26			67–76	P2 Report
10 Jun	18:00	France	3–0	Serbia	31–29	25–16	25–15			81–60	P2 Report

Week 4

Pool 13

• All times are Korea Standard Time (UTC+09:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
15 Jun	16:00	China	1–3	Italy	23–25	21–25	25–19	17–25		86–94	P2 Report
15 Jun	19:00	South Korea	1–3	Australia	25–23	19–25	19–25	21–25		84–98	P2 Report
16 Jun	14:00	South Korea	2–3	Italy	23–25	19–25	25–22	25–22	12–15	104–109	P2 Report
16 Jun	17:00	Australia	3–1	China	25–27	41–39	29–27	25–21		120–114	P2 Report
17 Jun	14:00	South Korea	3–0	China	25–21	25–21	25–22			75–64	P2 Report
17 Jun	17:00	Italy	1–3	Australia	25–27	25–18	19–25	23–25		92–95	P2 Report

Pool 14

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
15 Jun	18:00	Germany	2–3	Japan	22–25	25–21	15–25	25–20	12–15	99–106	P2 Report
15 Jun	20:30	Russia	3–0	Argentina	25–20	25–20	26–24			76–64	P2 Report
16 Jun	16:00	Germany	3–1	Argentina	25–19	25–19	20–25	25–22		95–85	P2 Report
16 Jun	19:00	Russia	3–0	Japan	25–16	25–22	25–23			75–61	P2 Report
17 Jun	12:00	Argentina	2–3	Japan	24–26	25–12	25–23	23–25	11–15	108–101	P2 Report
17 Jun	15:00	Germany	0–3	Russia	18–25	24–26	18–25			60–76	P2 Report

Pool 15

• All times are Central Daylight Time (UTC−05:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
15 Jun	17:30	Poland	0–3	Iran	24–26	24–26	22–25			70–77	P2 Report
15 Jun	20:00	United States	3–0	Serbia	25–22	25–16	25–14			75–52	P2 Report
16 Jun	14:00	Iran	2–3	Serbia	25–21	22–25	25–27	25–20	11–15	108–108	P2 Report
16 Jun	19:30	United States	3–0	Poland	25–20	25–19	25–19			75–58	P2 Report
17 Jun	12:00	Poland	0–3	Serbia	23–25	23–25	23–25			69–75	P2 Report
17 Jun	17:30	United States	3–0	Iran	29–27	25–20	26–24			80–71	P2 Report

Pool 16

• All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
15 Jun	15:30	Canada	3–0	Brazil	25–22	34–32	25–23			84–77	P2 Report
15 Jun	18:30	Bulgaria	0–3	France	21–25	20–25	23–25			64–75	P2 Report
16 Jun	15:30	France	3–0	Brazil	25–19	25–23	25–23			75–65	P2 Report
16 Jun	18:30	Bulgaria	3–0	Canada	25–22	25–19	29–27			79–68	P2 Report
17 Jun	15:30	France	3–2	Canada	25–19	22–25	25–22	24–26	16–14	112–106	P2 Report
17 Jun	18:30	Bulgaria	3–2	Brazil	25–22	19–25	25–15	18–25	15–12	102–99	P2 Report

Week 5

Pool 17

• All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
22 Jun	18:40	Poland	3–0	Argentina	26–24	25–20	29–27			80–71	P2 Report
22 Jun	21:10	Australia	0–3	Brazil	22–25	19–25	19–25			60–75	P2 Report
23 Jun	17:40	Australia	1–3	Argentina	20–25	19–25	25–20	21–25		85–95	P2 Report
23 Jun	20:10	Brazil	3–1	Poland	25–22	25–23	23–25	25–23		98–93	P2 Report
24 Jun	12:10	Brazil	0–3	Argentina	23–25	22–25	21–25			66–75	P2 Report
24 Jun	15:10	Australia	0–3	Poland	16–25	24–26	23–25			63–76	P2 Report

Pool 18

• All times are China Standard Time (UTC+08:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
22 Jun	16:00	Canada	0–3	Serbia	21–25	18–25	17–25			56–75	P2 Report
22 Jun	19:30	China	3–1	Japan	25–16	25–21	18–25	25–22		93–84	P2 Report
23 Jun	16:00	Japan	1–3	Serbia	28–26	33–35	21–25	18–25		100–111	P2 Report
23 Jun	19:30	China	0–3	Canada	21–25	23–25	22–25			66–75	P2 Report
24 Jun	16:00	Japan	0–3	Canada	23–25	20–25	22–25			65–75	P2 Report
24 Jun	19:30	China	1–3	Serbia	21–25	22–25	25–17	15–25		83–92	P2 Report

Pool 19

• All times are Iran Daylight Time (UTC+04:30).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
22 Jun	16:00	Bulgaria	2–3	Germany	25–21	22–25	25–23	23–25	13–15	108–109	P2 Report
22 Jun	19:15	Iran	3–1	South Korea	27–25	23–25	25–22	25–23		100–95	P2 Report
23 Jun	16:00	Germany	3–0	South Korea	25–23	25–18	25–19			75–60	P2 Report
23 Jun	18:30	Iran	3–1	Bulgaria	25–22	25–15	23–25	25–14		98–76	P2 Report
24 Jun	16:00	Bulgaria	3–2	South Korea	19–25	25–22	25–18	22–25	15–12	106–102	P2 Report
24 Jun	18:30	Iran	3–2	Germany	25–20	23–25	25–22	22–25	15–11	110–103	P2 Report

Pool 20

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
22 Jun	17:30	United States	2–3	France	21–25	25–23	28–26	20–25	12–15	106–114	P2 Report
22 Jun	20:50	Italy	0–3	Russia	21–25	22–25	20–25			63–75	P2 Report
23 Jun	17:30	United States	0–3	Russia	23–25	15–25	22–25			60–75	P2 Report
23 Jun	20:30	Italy	3–0	France	25–21	25–22	27–25			77–68	P2 Report
24 Jun	17:30	France	3–0	Russia	25–20	25–13	25–18			75–51	P2 Report
24 Jun	20:30	Italy	0–3	United States	23–25	17–25	27–29			67–79	P2 Report

Final round

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Pool play

Pool A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	France	2	2	0	5	6	2	3.000	183	159	1.151	Semifinals
2	Brazil	2	1	1	4	5	3	1.667	183	169	1.083
3	Serbia	2	0	2	0	0	6	0.000	115	153	0.752

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
4 Jul	20:45	France	3–2	Brazil	22–25	25–20	21–25	25–22	15–13	108–105	P2 Report
5 Jul	20:45	Serbia	0–3	Brazil	16–25	26–28	19–25			61–78	P2 Report
6 Jul	20:45	France	3–0	Serbia	25–19	25–18	25–17			75–54	P2 Report

Pool B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Russia	2	2	0	6	6	1	6.000	172	147	1.170	Semifinals
2	United States	2	1	1	3	3	3	1.000	142	136	1.044
3	Poland	2	0	2	0	1	6	0.167	144	175	0.823

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
4 Jul	18:00	Russia	3–1	Poland	25–18	25–23	22–25	25–17		97–83	P2 Report
5 Jul	18:00	United States	3–0	Poland	28–26	25–17	25–18			78–61	P2 Report
6 Jul	18:00	Russia	3–0	United States	25–22	25–21	25–21			75–64	P2 Report

Final four

	Semifinals				Final
	7 July
	France	3
					8 July
	United States	2
					France	0
	7 July
					Russia	3
	Russia	3
	Brazil	0
					3rd place match
					8 July
					United States	3
					Brazil	0

Semifinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
7 Jul	14:00	France	3–2	United States	25–18	25–17	23–25	24–26	15–13	112–99	P2 Report
7 Jul	17:00	Russia	3–0	Brazil	25–17	25–18	25–14			75–49	P2 Report

3rd place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
8 Jul	17:00	United States	3–0	Brazil	25–21	28–26	28–26			81–73	P2 Report

Final

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
8 Jul	20:45	France	0–3	Russia	22–25	20–25	23–25			65–75	P2 Report

Final standing

Rank Team   Russia   France   United States 4   Brazil 5   Poland   Serbia 7   Canada 8   Italy 9   Germany 10   Iran 11   Bulgaria 12   Japan 13   Australia 14   Argentina 15   China 16   South Korea Source: VNL 2018 final standings

2018 Men's Nations League champions  Russia 1st title 14-man roster Ilya Vlasov, Dmitry Kovalyov, Artem Volvich, Anton Karpukhov, Dmitry Volkov (c), Aleksandr Sokolov, Igor Filippov, Dmitry Muserskiy, Viktor Poletaev, Maxim Mikhaylov, Egor Kliuka, Romanas Shkulyavichus, Igor Kobzar, Aleksey Kabeshov Head coach Sergey Shlyapnikov

Awards

• Most valuable player

    Maxim Mikhaylov  (RUS)

• Best setter

    Benjamin Toniutti  (FRA)

• Best outside spikers

    Taylor Sander  (USA)

    Dmitry Volkov  (RUS)

• Best middle blockers

    Kévin Le Roux  (FRA)

    Dmitry Muserskiy  (RUS)

• Best opposite spiker

    Matt Anderson  (USA)

• Best libero

    Jenia Grebennikov  (FRA)

Statistics leaders

Preliminary round

Statistics leaders correct at the end of preliminary round . ^[9]

Best Scorers Player Spikes Blocks Serves Total 1 Jiang Chuan 242 19 13 274 2 Wallace de Souza 181 19 16 216 3 Milad Ebadipour 166 13 14 193 4 Yūji Nishida 167 6 14 187 5 Dmitry Muserskiy 146 25 14 185

Best Attackers Player Spikes Faults Shots Total % 1 Dmitry Muserskiy 146 15 62 223 65.47 2 Jiang Chuan 242 91 107 440 55.00 3 Matt Anderson 136 44 72 252 53.97 4 Dražen Luburić 136 37 86 259 52.51 5 Christian Fromm 133 42 83 259 52.51

Best Blockers Player Blocks Faults Rebounds Total Avg 1 Svetoslav Gotsev 34 69 80 183 0.57 2 Agustín Loser 32 80 92 204 0.56 3 Ilya Vlasov 27 79 60 166 0.54 4 Rao Shuhan 29 54 33 116 0.54 5 Jakub Kochanowski 26 45 50 121 0.51

Best Servers Player Aces Faults Hits Total Avg 1 Earvin N'Gapeth 17 34 74 125 0.31 2 Jan Zimmermann 18 25 130 173 0.31 3 Matt Anderson 17 44 98 159 0.30 4 Wallace de Souza 16 18 139 173 0.29 5 Graham Vigrass 15 17 158 190 0.28

Best Setters Player Running Faults Still Total Avg 1 Maximiliano Cavanna 995 5 285 1285 17.46 2 Saeid Marouf 830 11 323 1164 14.07 3 Igor Kobzar 669 9 148 826 13.38 4 TJ Sanders 679 7 300 986 12.81 5 Micah Christenson 694 4 44 742 12.39

Best Diggers Player Digs Faults Receptions Total Avg 1 Luke Perry 73 0 136 209 1.30 2 Maximiliano Cavanna 68 0 104 172 1.19 3 Micah Christenson 65 0 35 100 1.16 4 Jenia Grebennikov 60 0 89 149 1.11 5 Paweł Zatorski 54 12 71 137 1.06

Best Receivers Player Excellents Faults Serve Total % 1 Paweł Zatorski 59 9 137 205 24.39 2 Filippo Lanza 61 12 144 217 22.58 3 Tatsuya Fukuzawa 82 15 215 312 21.47 4 Tomás López 63 9 190 262 20.61 5 Santiago Danani 91 16 260 367 20.44

Final round

Statistics leaders correct at the end of final round . ^[10]

Best Scorers Player Spikes Blocks Serves Total 1 Stéphen Boyer 64 8 3 75 2 Earvin N'Gapeth 58 4 5 67 3 Maxim Mikhaylov 53 5 5 63 4 Wallace de Souza 59 2 0 61 5 Matt Anderson 46 1 4 51

Best Attackers Player Spikes Faults Shots Total % 1 Bartosz Kurek 21 5 7 33 63.64 2 Stéphen Boyer 64 17 26 107 59.81 3 Maxim Mikhaylov 53 10 26 89 59.55 4 Wallace de Souza 59 20 22 101 58.42 5 Marko Ivović 15 6 6 27 55.56

Best Blockers Player Blocks Faults Rebounds Total Avg 1 Lucas Saatkamp 11 16 27 54 0.79 2 Egor Kliuka 9 7 3 19 0.69 3 Maurício Souza 9 18 12 39 0.64 4 Kévin Le Roux 9 22 12 43 0.56 5 Dmitry Volkov 7 10 10 27 0.54

Best Servers Player Aces Faults Hits Total Avg 1 Egor Kliuka 6 6 38 50 0.46 2 Thibault Rossard 7 10 30 47 0.44 3 Dmitry Volkov 5 13 35 53 0.38 4 Maxim Mikhaylov 5 10 40 55 0.38 5 Srećko Lisinac 2 4 10 16 0.33

Best Setters Player Running Faults Still Total Avg 1 Bruno Rezende 252 3 4 259 18.00 2 Dmitry Kovalyov 226 5 2 233 17.38 3 Benjamin Toniutti 276 1 0 277 17.25 4 Micah Christenson 238 1 2 241 17.00 5 Nikola Jovović 95 0 1 96 15.83

Best Diggers Player Digs Faults Receptions Total Avg 1 Paweł Zatorski 14 0 16 30 2.00 2 Thales Hoss 26 0 29 55 1.86 3 Dmitry Volkov 18 0 12 30 1.38 4 Earvin N'Gapeth 20 0 11 31 1.25 5 Aleksey Kabeshov 16 0 16 32 1.23

Best Receivers Player Excellents Faults Serve Total % 1 Thales Hoss 24 4 47 75 26.67 2 Lucas Lóh 20 5 45 70 21.43 3 Taylor Sander 19 4 49 72 20.83 4 Jenia Grebennikov 13 2 61 76 14.47 5 Earvin N'Gapeth 18 4 77 99 14.14

See also

• 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League
• 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup
• 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Challenger Cup

References

1. "FIVB announces the Volleyball Nations League". FIVB. 12 October 2017. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
2. "Pools Overview Release for Thrilling Inaugural Season VNL". FIVB. 16 February 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
3. "Lille, France selected to host FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League Finals". FIVB. 7 February 2018. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
4. "Portugal join world's elite for 2019 Men's VNL". FIVB. 24 June 2018. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
5. "Russia claim first world gold in five years at historical 2018 VNL". FIVB. 8 July 2018. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
6. "Russell roars as the US snatch bronze in Lille". FIVB. 8 July 2018. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
7. "Mikhaylov leads star-studded VNL Dream Team". FIVB. 8 July 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
8. "Six teams line up for Volleyball Challenger Cup and one open berth in 2019 Men's VNL". FIVB.org. 19 June 2018. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
9. "Men's Statistics - FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2018". FIVB.org. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
10. "Men's Statistics - FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2018". FIVB.org. Archived from the original on 13 June 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2018.

External links

• Fédération Internationale de Volleyball – official website
• FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2018 – official website