Olympic Volleyball Power Rankings – Day 4

I didn’t see any of the games so I have nothing much to add other than the new Rankings.
1 (1) – USA. One point should be enough to clinch top spot in the group and an easier quarter final. Judging from the stats they showed again that their serve / block is at a very high level (the first two sets), but no aces maybe means no gold medal (the next three). They stay top but they have shown some weakness.
2 (5) – Poland. Stable, no stress. They should now win their group. They seem to be the most stable team. Maybe the Bulgaria match was just a freak game. Other results see them up three places.
3 (2) – Brazil. They won but probably missed the chance to win the group. I can’t help but think their final position will come down to how deep their group pride lets them reach into the past. Down one spot.
4 (3) – Russia. Under the circumstances that was probably one of the better Russian wins of the recent past. Their best remains better than anyone else’s. They drop one spot but will have slept better than the other favourites last night.
=5 – Italy (5) Bulgaria (6). I could have named that equal sixth because I think the top four have separated themselves from these two. This will be the best match of the last round as the loser will probably finish fourth in the group with a tough quarter final against USA.
7 (7) – Germany. They are the most nervous team right now. Serbia’s point against Brazil makes fourth spot still up for grabs and neither Russia nor Brazil necessarily need to win the last match (under FIVB anti badminton rules, the quarter finals between second and third places are drawn from a hat). On form they should stay fourth. In these Olympics, form is temporary.
8 (8) – Argentina. Finally showed their possibilities by beating Bulgaria comfortably. They could suddenly find themselves as high as second in the group. It won’t help them win a quarter final, but still.
9 (9) – Serbia. I didn’t see the game but can only imagine they played a typical ‘backs against the wall, us against the world’ Serbian game. As they will tomorrow. And Russia might not have to win… Everything is in play.
I can’t wait…