By Megan Kaplon

At the conclusion of the second week of Volleyball Nations League, the U.S. Women’s National Team is well on its way to forgetting all about its first-round loss to Turkey. After going 3-0 in Toyota, Japan, the USA women rank first in the VNL standings with a 5-1 record and 16 points.

The week began with a sweep of this round’s host team Japan, in which outside hitter Michelle Bartsch-Hackley led with 21 points (18 kills and three aces). With Kelsey Robinson making only her second start at the libero position, Team USA collected 39 total digs—coming close to matching defensive-minded Japan’s 41. Robinson recorded an 80 positive reception percent.

Lauren Gibbemeyer stuffed a match-high seven of Japan’s attacks. As a team, the Americans out-blocked the much shorter Japanese team 12-2.

The next night, the U.S. women scored an even more important victory, a 3-0 win over the Netherlands, previously the top team in the tournament standings. After not seeing the court versus Japan, captain Jordan Larson started in the Netherlands match and led the team with 18 points (14 kills, two blocks, two aces). The straight-set victory elevated Team USA to the No. 1 spot in the VNL rankings.

#USAVwnt used a balanced scoring attack to sweep Belgium 25-11, 25-18, 25-17 in FIVB Volleyball Nations League action on Thursday in Toyota, Japan. https://t.co/Ro3gcKCK13 pic.twitter.com/lw8ZuBaJk4

— USA Volleyball (@usavolleyball) May 24, 2018

The Americans defended their top spot in the standings with a sweep of Belgium in the final match of the Toyota road swing. Belgium never scored more than 18 points in any of the three sets, and Bartsch-Hackley once again led Team USA, this time scoring 14 points on 12 kills and two blocks to surpass Kim Hill as the top scorer on the team during this tournament. 

Against Belgium, former Purdue All-American Annie Drews earned her second start of the tournament, contributing 12 points with 10 kills and two blocks from the opposite position.

After experimenting with a number of different lineups in the first week of VNL, and in particular making a big change at the libero position, Team USA head coach Karch Kiraly seems to be honing in on his favorite combinations of players. 

Mighty spike by Michelle Bartsch-Hackley in third & final set of #VNL match against @BelYellowTigers #BePartOfTheGame #Volleyball pic.twitter.com/YqIkfzSE5W

— Volleyball World (@FIVBVolleyball) May 24, 2018

In Toyota, he used Bartsch-Hackley, Kim Hill, and Jordan Larson in equal measure on the outside, while mostly sticking with Kelly Murphy as his starting opposite. Kiraly alternated between starting Lauren Gibbemeyer and Rachael Adams or Foluke Akinradewo and Tori Dixon in the middle, and Olympian Carli Lloyd has set every match of the tournament. 

With Kelsey Robinson as the team’s libero, the U.S. women are 4-0, so we’re likely to see Karch keep her in that position when the team travels to Bangkok, Thailand, next week for the next round of play, where it will take on No. 13 Germany, No. 9 Dominican Republic, and No. 16 Thailand.

Closest to Team USA in the VNL standings is Brazil, ranked fourth in the world, and also boasting a 5-1 record—just one point away from tying with the Americans. 

The U.S. women will play Brazil in Week 4 of the VNL competition, when they travel to Jiangmen, China. That same week, Team USA also plays No. 1 China and No. 5 Russia, so Kiraly and his team will need to use the upcoming matches in Thailand to lock down their best lineups and get ready for the toughest three matches of the entire VNL tournament.