Volleyball Nations League preview as USA women face Serbia in quarterfinals

The Volleyball Nations League women’s quarterfinals begin this week in Ankara, Türkiye, and, based on the first three rounds, three-time defending-champion USA is the team to beat. 

Single-elimination action opens Wednesday with Brazil (10-2) playing Japan (8-4), followed by USA (11-1) vs. Serbia (8-4). On Thursday, Italy (10-2) plays China (8-4) and Türkye (7-5) faces Thailand (5-7). That last match is a battle between the seventh- and eighth-ranked teams, but Türkye gets to be the top seed since it is the host.

The semifinals are Friday and the medal matches Saturday.

The USA swept Serbia on July 1 in Calgary.

We still don’t know the 14 players who will be in uniform for the USA — we would expect an announcement Tuesday — but coach Karch Kiraly’s squad has shown that regardless of who is on the floor all it does is win.

This is a new format for this edition of the VNL, where eight teams compete in a single-elimination knockout tournament to determine the champion. The VNL is the first of two major events this summer, with the World Championships in September. 

Here is a breakdown of the four matches and where the teams stand:

Brazil-Japan

Japan took the VNL by storm, winning its first eight matches, including one against the USA. Sixth-place Japan’s revival after its disastrous Tokyo Olympics campaign was short-lived, because it went winless in the last round.

Brazil went into the VNL with many new faces after retirements post-Tokyo. Superstars Gabi and Carol powered Brazil to the No. 3 seed. Japan and Brazil have both played with several lineups, Despite missing the first week, Gabi is Brazil’s third top scorer. Sarina Koga is Japan’s leader, an outside hitter who is second in the VNL with 243 points. Brazil’s block will try to contain the Japanese attack, while Japan will rely on its trademark floor defense.

Carol led Brazil and the VNL with 52 blocks, nine more than anyone else and Brazil leads all teams in blocks per set. Japan’s block is the weakest of the teams left in the field. However, libero Manami Kojima ranks first among all players in digs per match and Koga is the top outside hitter in that category. 

Brazilian coach Roberto Guimaraes has tried several lineups throughout the VNL, but this quarterfinal will test how prepared they have come over the past seven weeks. Georgia Tech outside hitter Julia Bergmann has had a phenomenal VNL so far. Pri Daroit, who is making the most of her…