Last week of women’s Preliminary Phase coming up in Bulgaria and Canada

A last portion of 32 exciting encounters will be served at the women’s Volleyball Nations League 2022 Preliminary Phase pools in Bulgaria and Canada this week. The 16 participating teams will split between Sofia and Calgary from Tuesday, June 28, through Sunday, July 3, to finalise the list of seven who will join hosts Türkiye at the Finals in Ankara from July 13 through 17.

· Watch all VNL 2022 matches live on Volleyball TV.

The magnificent Arena Armeets competition hall in the Bulgarian capital is taking a day’s breather after hosting six days of men’s VNL action and before welcoming a fantastic crowd of volleyball fans to cheer on the ladies’ teams in the week ahead.

The very first match of the pool in Sofia will offer a much anticipated clash between China and Brazil, two of only four teams to have ever medalled in the women’s VNL. Brazil are third in the current standings on a 6-2 win-loss record, while China are sixth on 5-3. The two powerhouses will go head to head on Tuesday at 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT), three hours before hosts Bulgaria (14th on 2-6) take on 10th-placed Dominican Republic (3-5) as part of the big scuffle for survival in the League.

The other four teams in the pool will get into action on Wednesday, with the day’s programme consisting of an all-Asian duel between eighth-placed Thailand (4-4) and Korea, the only team in the VNL to have yet to win a match, as well as an all-European clash between fourth-placed Italy (6-2) and ninth-placed Poland (4-4).

A game between Poland and China highlights Thursday’s schedule in Sofia. The two teams will take to the court right after Thailand and the Dominican Republic try to reassert the good impressions they have already left in the competition. The competition week in the Bulgarian capital will close on Sunday evening with a match between Poland and the home team that could also prove crucial in the race to avoid relegation.

The pool in Calgary, on the other hand, will get underway with 13th-placed Germany (2-6) taking on world champions Serbia, standing seventh on 5-3. That game will start at 17:00 local time (23:00 GMT). Three hours later, pool hosts Canada (11th on 3-5) will face Finals hosts Türkiye (fifth on 5-3).

Table leaders Japan, the only undefeated team in the competition, need just one point to stamp their tickets to Ankara. They will try to do so as soon as they open their Calgary week with a match against the Netherlands (15th on 1-7) on Wednesday. The other two teams in the pool, 12th-placed Belgium (3-5) and defending three-time title-holders USA (second on 7-1), will also meet on Wednesday.

An interesting encounter between VNL and Olympic champions USA and world champions Serbia will close the competition day on Thursday. European neighbours Belgium and the Netherlands will open the competition day on Friday. The powerful Turkish team will have to meet both the first and the second-placed teams in the current standings, Japan and USA, within a span of 24 hours on Friday and Saturday.

The fans in Calgary will get to see the VNL’s best server so far, Kiera Van Ryk, and the tournament’s best receiver so far, Anna Pogany, perform against each other as Canada and Germany meet on Saturday evening.

As the second week in the men’s VNL was completed in Sofia and Quezon City, reigning Olympic champions France and reigning world champions Poland topped the current standings, each on a 7-1 win-loss record after going through the week undefeated in four matches.

Italy and Japan come next in the table on 6-2 each, after engaging in a five-set battle against each other in the Philippines last week, with the Asian side celebrating the victory. USA, who were the only team to win four matches in Week 1, dropped to fifth place after winning two and losing two games in Bulgaria last week.

Brazil and the Netherlands had a good week, claiming three wins each in Sofia and Quezon City, respectively, to line up in positions six and seven on 5-3, while Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz emerged as the new leader of the best scorers ranking on a total of 142 points, followed by Argentina’s Bruno Lima on 136 and Japan’s Yuji Nishida on 133.

Iran complete the top eight in the table, standing just above the cut-off line for the Finals on 4-4 and a point clear of ninth-placed Serbia. Slovenia and Germany are next on 3-5. Argentina, China and Canada follow on 2-6. Both Bulgaria and Australia scored their first wins of the competition last week to prompt an exciting race for survival in the VNL as the epilogue of the Preliminary Round comes around next week.

Poland’s excellent results last week widened the gap between them and Brazil at the top of the FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Ranking, while France moved up to the top three from number four a week ago. Japan and the Netherlands made the highest leaps of three positions up the chart. Japan rose from 10th to seventh, while the Netherlands climbed from 15th to 12th.

Volleyball Nations League 2022: Schedule and results