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The 2019 FIVB National League Women’s volleyball tournament is the edition of this annual international volleyball tournament for women’s national teams. The preliminary round of competition began last May 21, 2019, and is already completed. The top six teams after the first round will now advance to the Final round to be held in Nanjing, China, where they are grouped into two and will play round-robin matches within their groups. This round will begin on July 3 and end on July 5. The top two teams in each group will meet in a crossover semifinal round on July 6 with the winners of the semifinals playing for the title and the semifinals losers battling for 3rd place on July 7, 2019.
After the conclusion of the preliminary round, these are the six teams have qualified for the final round:
- China 35 points
- The United States 35 points
- Brazil 35 points
- Italy 34 points
- Turkey 32 points
- Poland 26 points.
The teams have been bracketed into two groups of three and here are the final round groupings and the schedule of semifinal games:
Pool A
- China
- Italy
- Turkey
Pool B
- United States
- Brazil
- Poland
July 3, 2019
- China vs Turkey
- Poland vs the United States
July 4, 2019
- Italy vs Turkey
- Brazil vs Poland
July 5, 2019
- China vs Italy
- The United States vs Brazil
Here are the odds from Titanbet to win the 2019 National League Women Volleyball tournament:
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Italy Women | +175 |
| USA Women | +225 |
| Brazil Women | +450 |
| Turkey Women | +900 |
| China Women | +1200 |
| Poland Women | +3300 |
Who are The Favorites?
Italy is the volleyball betting favorites to win the tournament. The Italians finished the preliminary round with a record of 11-4 for a total of 34 points. They won a total of 39 sets and lost 21 for a ratio of 1.857. When it comes to points, Italy scored a total of 1375 points and lost 1233 for a ratio of 1.115. During the preliminary round, Italy lost to USA, Brazil, and China.
The United States is next in the odds board. The Americans completed their preliminary round with a record of 12-3 with a total of 35 points. Team USA won a total of 39 sets and lost just 17 for a ratio of 2.294. They won 1283 points and allowed 1137 for a ratio of 1.128. The Americans three losses came at the hands of Turkey, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil.
Brazil ended their preliminary round with a record of 11-4 and earned a total of 35 points. They had the best set ratio in the first round at 2.5 of 40 sets won versus just 16 lost. As for points, Brazil scored 1318 points and lost 1140 for a ratio of 1.146. Brazil lost to the Dominican Republic, Poland, Turkey, and Germany.
Who Wins?
The Americans showed great depth in their lineup. Coach Karch Kiraly varied his line-up from game to game without really divulging the true strength of his best unit. They finished as runners-up in the preliminary round, with the same win-loss record as #1 China and only lost out on set ratio.
Like the United States, Italy mixed their line-up from match to match without revealing the true potential of their squad. When it comes to talent, Italy has the lineup to go all the way but if there’s any weakness in this team, it’s their youthfulness and lack of experience. Elena Pietrini lived up to expectations and played well together with Indra Sorokaite. Brazil has likewise been playing great with Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimaraes on fire in the preliminary round.
This is certainly still anybody’s tournament but I think it will go down to the United States, Italy, and Brazil. I think it’s going to come down to the squads that each country will field in the Final Round, including the specific units per match. Coaching will play a key role as whoever manages his resources well, match per match is going to have a good chance of taking home the title.
Since the United States and Brazil belong to the same final bracket, then it is possible that they will meet in the Finals because they won’t play each other in the crossover semifinals. However, one of them will have to face Italy in the semifinals which won’t be an easy task. So yes, this is the three-way possibility I’m seeing it. When it comes to overall talent, I think the defending champions have the best line-up from top to bottom and that should be an advantage moving forward. That said, Brazil beat the Americans in the preliminary round but the stakes are higher here. I expect the United States to go all-out. Prediction: United States
