By Megan Kaplon

The U.S. Women’s National Team was clearly still finding its rhythm in the first week of FIVB Volleyball Nations League competition. 

No. 22 Poland pushed the Americans to four sets and Turkey ran away with a five-set victory. But a sweep of Italy will perhaps provide some momentum heading into this week’s matches against Japan, Netherlands and Belgium in Toyota, Japan.

In the first week of competition, outside hitters Kim Hill, Michelle Bartsch-Hackley and Jordan Larson were the big offensive leaders for Team USA, and head coach Karch Kiraly experimented with a variety of lineups. 

The biggest surprise was the use of outside hitter Kelsey Robinson as the libero in the match versus Italy. 

Since the retirement of Kayla Banwarth, who played the position for the 2016 Olympic team, Kiraly has been looking for a replacement. Amanda Benson and Justine Wong-Orantes, two relatively recent college grads from Oregon and Nebraska, respectively, were the liberos on the roster this week, but last year Kiraly also used outside hitter Megan Courtney in the position, before she injured her knee.

Team USA’s 21-player roster for VNL also includes former University of Florida libero Caroline Knop, who could get her senior national team debut as Coach Kiraly looks for his next star defensive leader. At publication, however, this week’s roster had not been released.

Here’s what to expect from this week’s opponents in Toyota, Japan:

Japan | Tuesday, May 22, 5 AM CT

Japan is the next host of the Olympic Games, and its women’s volleyball team is looking to make a return to glory. With two Olympic gold medals, two silver medals, and two bronze medals, Japan has seen plenty of success since indoor volleyball became an Olympic sport in the 1960s. 

The Japan women’s most recent Olympic podium finish came with a bronze in the 2012 London games, and they have historically been one of the best women’s volleyball teams in Asia. 

Coached by Kumi Nakada, a member of the 1984 bronze-medal-winning Japan squad and the first female coach of the program, Japan ranks sixth in the world and finished fifth at the World Grand Champions Cup and seventh in the World Grand Prix last year, in addition to winning the 2017 Asian Championship.

In the first week of VNL play, Japan went 1-2, losing to Serbia and Brazil, but beating Germany. Sarina Koga had 22 points in the victory over Germany and middle blockers Man Okumura and Nana Iwasaka contributed nine and five blocks, respectively. 

Netherlands | Wednesday, May 23, 1:30 AM CT

The Netherlands looked fantastic in the first week of VNL play, sweeping Thailand and Russia and defeating Argentina in four to enter week two as the top team in the tournament standings. 

The team in orange has seen continued improvement on the international stage over the past few years. In 2015, the Netherlands won bronze at the World Grand Prix and silver at the European Championships. The next year, it finished fourth at the Rio Olympics, and then last year it won another silver at the European Championships.

American Jamie Morrison came on as the head coach of the Netherlands’ women’s team in February of last year after a long collegiate and national team coaching career in the States. Morrison also serves as an assistant for Turkish club VakifBank Istanbul where Kelsey Robinson plays during the professional season.

In this tournament, the Netherlands has so far benefitted from stellar offensive performances from Annie Buijs and Celeste Plak. 

The 26-year-old Buijs, who was twice voted the best outside hitter in the European Championship, led with 15 points versus Argentina and contributed 14 versus Thailand. Plak, who is just 22 and has playing for the Dutch senior national team for more than four years, led the Thailand match with 16 points and had 13 against Argentina, but her best showing was versus Russia where she racked up 18 points in just three sets, attacking from the front and the back row.

Belgium | Thursday, May 24, 1:30 AM CT

No. 13 Belgium will be Team USA’s final opponent in Toyota. The challenger team has seen some success in continental and international tournaments as of late, winning a bronze medal at the 2013 European Championships and finishing first in Group 2 of the 2014 World Grand Prix to advance to Group 1 the following year.

In their first VNL pool, the Belgium women went 2-1, upsetting ninth-ranked Dominican Republic and No. 10 Korea. 

In the five-set victory over Dominican Republic, Britt Herbots had an incredible 28 points, with 25 kills, two aces, and a block. The 18-year-old outside hitter first played for the Belgium senior national team in 2016 and competed in last year’s World Grand Prix. Herbots also led the Belgium squad with 16 points versus Korea.

Against China, opposite Kaja Grobelna was the top scorer for the Belgians, with 10 kills, three blocks and three aces. 

Non-USA Matches in Toyota

Tuesday, May 22, 1:40 AM CT | Belgium vs. Netherlands

Wednesday, May 23, 5:10 AM CT | Japan vs. Belgium

Thursday, May 24, 5:10 AM CT | Japan vs. Netherlands