Final Olympic Teams and Pools Decided
The last four indoor teams for both the men's and women's competitions officially qualified over the weekend. On the men's side, Serbia, Australia, Bulgaria and Germany will join the eight teams that had already qualified for the London Games.
This week, FIVB released the make up of the two pools of six that will face off at the Games as well. The pool groupings are below. The No. 6 USA men are in a pool that includes No.
1 Brazil, No. 2 Russia and No. 7 Serbia. The top four teams from each pool will make the quarterfinals.
The men should at the very least be able to out-perform the two lowest ranked teams in their pool - No. 13 Germany and No. 18 Tunisia. If they come out of their pool as the fourth place team, they'll play the No. 1 team from the other pool in the quarters. The good news is that the top teams in the other pool are a fraction more beatable than the top two teams in USA's pool. So instead of facing No. 1 Brazil or No. 2 Russia in the quarters, they'll most likely face No. 3 Italy or No. 4 Poland.
Though there is no way to predict if the rankings will hold through pool play or if the teams we expect to win will do so, it is usually safer to come out of the pool higher than fourth so that you potentially get a more favorable draw.
If the elimination rounds are structured as they were in Beijing, the second and third place teams from each pool will draw lots to decide which team they'll take on in the quarters.
Once we get there, things get very difficult to predict.
The bottom line is that even if the Americans get off to a slow start, they can still compete for a medal if they start to roll as the tournament wears on. If they are clicking on all cylinders at the right time, they may even be able to play for gold. A lot has to go right for that to happen, but this U.S. team is as dangerous as they choose to be. When they're on, they're on.
Here are the rest of the men's pools:
Pool A
No. 3 Italy
No. 4 Poland
No. 8 Argentina
No. 9 Bulgaria
No. 22 Australia
No. 92 Great Britain
Pool B
No. 1 Brazil
No. 2 Russia
No. 6 USA
No. 7 Serbia
No. 13 Germany
No. 18 Tunisia
On the women's side, the final qualification tournament yielded berths for Russia, Korea, Serbia and Japan. The No. 1 ranked USA women will have to face No. 2 Brazil in pool play. But they should have no problem coming out of their pool in first or second place. Either way they are in good shape because if the rankings hold, they'll play Russia or the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals, each of whom they've been beating with regularity. Brazil is the only team that has been a real threat to the American women and the U.S. women have won in that match up for the last several meetings. If all goes according to ranking, we should see a USA/Brazil gold medal match.
Here are the rest of the women's pools:
Pool A
No. 3 Japan
No. 4 Italy
No. 7 Russia
No. 9 Dominican Republic
No. 16 Algeria
No. 69 Great Britain
Pool B
No. 1 USA
No. 2 Brazil
No. 5 China
No. 6 Serbia
No. 11 Turkey
No. 13 Korea
Click here for Men's Indoor Volleyball Olympic Schedule for London 2012
Click here for Women's Indoor Volleyball Olympic Schedule for London 2012
Click here to see how the USA Men Qualified for the Olympics
Click here to see how the USA Women Qualified for the Olympics
This week, FIVB released the make up of the two pools of six that will face off at the Games as well. The pool groupings are below. The No. 6 USA men are in a pool that includes No.
1 Brazil, No. 2 Russia and No. 7 Serbia. The top four teams from each pool will make the quarterfinals.
The men should at the very least be able to out-perform the two lowest ranked teams in their pool - No. 13 Germany and No. 18 Tunisia. If they come out of their pool as the fourth place team, they'll play the No. 1 team from the other pool in the quarters. The good news is that the top teams in the other pool are a fraction more beatable than the top two teams in USA's pool. So instead of facing No. 1 Brazil or No. 2 Russia in the quarters, they'll most likely face No. 3 Italy or No. 4 Poland.
Though there is no way to predict if the rankings will hold through pool play or if the teams we expect to win will do so, it is usually safer to come out of the pool higher than fourth so that you potentially get a more favorable draw.
If the elimination rounds are structured as they were in Beijing, the second and third place teams from each pool will draw lots to decide which team they'll take on in the quarters.
Once we get there, things get very difficult to predict.
The bottom line is that even if the Americans get off to a slow start, they can still compete for a medal if they start to roll as the tournament wears on. If they are clicking on all cylinders at the right time, they may even be able to play for gold. A lot has to go right for that to happen, but this U.S. team is as dangerous as they choose to be. When they're on, they're on.
Here are the rest of the men's pools:
Pool A
No. 3 Italy
No. 4 Poland
No. 8 Argentina
No. 9 Bulgaria
No. 22 Australia
No. 92 Great Britain
Pool B
No. 1 Brazil
No. 2 Russia
No. 6 USA
No. 7 Serbia
No. 13 Germany
No. 18 Tunisia
On the women's side, the final qualification tournament yielded berths for Russia, Korea, Serbia and Japan. The No. 1 ranked USA women will have to face No. 2 Brazil in pool play. But they should have no problem coming out of their pool in first or second place. Either way they are in good shape because if the rankings hold, they'll play Russia or the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals, each of whom they've been beating with regularity. Brazil is the only team that has been a real threat to the American women and the U.S. women have won in that match up for the last several meetings. If all goes according to ranking, we should see a USA/Brazil gold medal match.
Here are the rest of the women's pools:
Pool A
No. 3 Japan
No. 4 Italy
No. 7 Russia
No. 9 Dominican Republic
No. 16 Algeria
No. 69 Great Britain
Pool B
No. 1 USA
No. 2 Brazil
No. 5 China
No. 6 Serbia
No. 11 Turkey
No. 13 Korea
Click here for Men's Indoor Volleyball Olympic Schedule for London 2012
Click here for Women's Indoor Volleyball Olympic Schedule for London 2012
Click here to see how the USA Men Qualified for the Olympics
Click here to see how the USA Women Qualified for the Olympics
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