FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League
The FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League is an international volleyball competition[1] contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The first tournament took place between May and July 2018, with the final taking place in Nanjing, China. United States won the inaugural edition, defeating Turkey in the final.
Current season, competition or edition: 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League | |
 VNL | |
| Sport | Volleyball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2017 |
| Inaugural season | 2018 |
| CEO | Ary Graça |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Continent | International (FIVB) |
| Most recent champion(s) |  United States(3rd title) |
| Most titles | United States (3 titles) |
| Official website | Volleyball Nations League |
The creation of the tournament was announced in October 2017 as a joint project between the FIVB, the IMG and 21 national federations.[2] The Nations League replaced the World Grand Prix, a former annual women's international event that ran between 1993 and 2017.
A corresponding tournament for men's national teams is the FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League.
History
Adoption
In June 2017, Argentinian website Voley Plus reported that the FIVB would drastically change the format for both the 2018 World League and World Grand Prix. According to the reports, starting from 2018, the World League and the World Grand Prix would have only one Group (no more Groups 1, 2 and 3) of 16 national teams.[3][4]
In October 2017, the FIVB announced, via a press release, the creation of the men's and women's Volleyball Nations League, confirming the tournaments as a replacement for the World League and World Grand Prix.[2]
Format
As in the former World Grand Prix, the competition will be divided in two phases, albeit with changes in the competition formula: a preliminary round (known as preliminary round), with a system of rotating host cities, and a final round played in a pre-selected host city.
The preliminary round is held over five weeks, versus three in the World Grand Prix. Each week, the participating teams are organized in pools, and each team plays one match against all other teams in its pool. All games in a pool take place over a weekend in the same city.
When all matches of the preliminary round have been played, the top five teams in the overall standings qualify for the final round, and the remaining ones leave the competition. The host nation automatically qualifies for the final round.[5]
16 national teams will compete in the inaugural edition of the tournament; 12 core teams, which are always qualified, and 4 challenger teams, which can face relegation.[5]
Preliminary round
The 16 teams compete in round-robin tournament, with every core team hosting a pool al least once. The teams are divided into 4 pools of 4 teams in each week and compete five weeks long, with a total of 120 matches. The top five teams after the round-robin tournament join the hosts in the final round.[5] The relegation will consider the four challenger teams and the last ranked challenger team will be excluded from next edition. The winners of the Challenger Cup would qualify for next edition as a challenger team.[6][7]
Final round
The six qualified teams play in 2 pools of 3 teams in a round-robin format. The top 2 teams of each pool qualify for the semifinals. The first ranked teams play against the second ranked teams in this round. The winners of the semifinals advance to compete for the Nations League title.[5]
Challenger Cup
The FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup will be a competition for national teams which will run in concurrence with the Volleyball Nations League. The Challenger Cup will consist of teams not participating in the current edition of the Volleyball Nations League and will feature one host team and five teams from the five continental confederations as follows:[6]
| Confederation | Slots |
|---|---|
| AVC (Asia) | 1 |
| CAVB (Africa) | 0 or 1 (intercontinental playoff with CSV representative) |
| CSV (South America) | 0 or 1 (intercontinental playoff with CAVB representative) |
| CEV (Europe) | 2 |
| NORCECA (North America) | 1 |
| Total | 6 (5+H) |
The Continental Confederations, responsible for determining the teams that will qualify for the FIVB Challenger Cup, are free to organise their Continental Qualification Tournament or use an existing competition to define the qualified team(s).
The FIVB Challenger Cup will be held before the FIVB Volleyball Nations League Finals and the winners will qualify for the next year's VNL as a challenger team.[6]
Hosts
List of hosts by number of final round championships hosted.
| Times hosted | Hosts | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 |  China | 2018, 2019 |
| 1 |  Italy | 2021 |
Appearance
- Legend
Table current through the end of 2021 edition.
| Team | League Round | Final Round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App. | First | Last | App. | First | Last | |
 Argentina | 1 | 2018 | 2018 | – | – | – |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Belgium | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | – | – | – |
 Brazil | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | 3 | 2018 | 2021 |
 Bulgaria | 1 | 2019 | 2019 | – | – | – |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada | 1 | 2021 | 2021 | – | – | – |
| China | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | 2 | 2018 | 2019 |
 Dominican Republic | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | – | – | – |
 Germany | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | – | – | – |
| Italy | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | 1 | 2019 | 2019 |
 Japan | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | 1 | 2021 | 2021 |
 Netherlands | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | 1 | 2018 | 2018 |
 Poland | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | 1 | 2019 | 2019 |
 Russia | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | – | – | – |
 Serbia | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | 1 | 2018 | 2018 |
 South Korea | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | – | – | – |
 Thailand | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | – | – | – |
 Turkey | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | 3 | 2018 | 2021 |
| United States | 3 | 2018 | 2021 | 3 | 2018 | 2021 |
Results summary
| Year | Final host | Final | Third Place Match | Teams PR / FR | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place | ||||||
| 2018 | Nanjing |
United States |
3–2 | Turkey |
China |
3–0 | Brazil |
16 / 6 | |||
| 2019 | Nanjing |
United States |
3–2 | Brazil |
China |
3–1 | Turkey |
16 / 6 | |||
| 2020 | Originally to be held in Nanjing, China. Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Rimini |
United States |
3–1 | Brazil |
Turkey |
3–0 | Japan |
16 / 4 | |||
| 2022 | Ankara |
16 / 8 | |||||||||
Medals summary
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Brazil | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Turkey | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | China | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals (4 nations) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
MVP by edition
- 2018 – Michelle Bartsch-Hackley (USA)
- 2019 – Andrea Drews (USA)
- 2021 – Michelle Bartsch-Hackley (USA)
Team performances by season
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- 4th – Fourth place
– No movement for Challenger teams
– Relegated for Challenger teams
| Team | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | FR | RK | G | FR | RK | G | FR | RK | |
| Argentina | CH | L | 16 | VCC | VCC | ||||
| Belgium | CH | L | 13 | CH | L | 7 | CH | L | 9 |
| Brazil | C | F | 4 | C | F | 2 | C | F | 2 |
| Bulgaria | VCC  | CH | L | 16 | VCC | ||||
| Canada | VCC | VCC | CH | L | 14 | ||||
| China | C | F | 3 | C | F | 3 | C | L | 5 |
| Dominican Republic | CH | L | 14 | CH | L | 8 | CH | L | 6 |
| Germany | C | L | 11 | C | L | 10 | C | L | 10 |
| Italy | C | L | 7 | C | F | 5 | C | L | 12 |
| Japan | C | L | 10 | C | L | 9 | C | F | 4 |
| Netherlands | C | F | 5 | C | L | 11 | C | L | 7 |
| Poland | CH | L | 9 | CH | F | 5 | CH | L | 11 |
| Russia | C | L | 8 | C | L | 14 | C | L | 8 |
| Serbia | C | F | 5 | C | L | 13 | C | L | 13 |
| South Korea | C | L | 12 | C | L | 15 | C | L | 15 |
| Thailand | C | L | 15 | C | L | 12 | C | L | 16 |
| Turkey | C | F | 2 | C | F | 4 | C | F | 3 |
| United States | C | F | 1 | C | F | 1 | C | F | 1 |
See also
References
- Renato Marques (11 March 2020). "Women's Volleyball going ahead but FIVB does not rule out changes". Macau Daily Times. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- "FIVB announces the Volleyball Nations League". FIVB.org. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- "FIVB drastically changes format for 2018 World League and Grand Prix, Italy remain member of elite!". WorldofVolley. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- "¡Qué bombazo!: La World League y el Grand Prix van a cambiar y Argentina será beneficiada" (in Spanish). Voley Plus. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- "Pools overview released for thrilling inaugural season of VNL". FIVB.org. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- "Volleyball Challenger Cup battle begins in Peru for one ticket to 2019 Women's VNL". FIVB.org. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- Events: Fivb Volleyball Nations League | Sears Centre Arena
External links
- Fédération Internationale de Volleyball – official website
- Volleyball Nations League – official website
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