The USA sailed through its first three matches at the 2018 FIVB Women’s World Championship but was forced to play back-to-back five-setters in its last two in order to escape from Pool C with a 5-0 record.

USA head coach Karch Kiraly utilized a number of different lineups, with each of the 14 players on the roster seeing the court and contributing to the Americans’ success in Round 1. 

With an undefeated record, the U.S. women finished on top of their pool and advance to the second round. Here’s how the first round played out for Team USA. 

Match No. 1: Azerbaijan 

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Even the recently Volleyball Nations League gold medalists and reigning world champs have to calm their nerves at the start of a big tournament, and in the first set of their first match of Worlds, the U.S. women allowed Azerbaijan to reach set point 24-21, but the Americans battled back to win 29-27 and ultimately claimed the match in straight sets 29-27, 25-21, 25-21. 

“One thing is we didn’t know the players well on the Azerbaijan side,” USA middle Foluke Akinradewo said. “They were a very strong, tall and aggressive team. It took a little time for us to settle down.”

Azerbaijan’s star hitter Polina Rahimova led the match with 23 points, but the USA had four players -- Kim Hill, Jordan Larson, Kelly Murphy, and Akinradewo -- contribute double-digit kills. 

Match No. 2: Trinidad & Tobago

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The next night, Kiraly used almost a completely new lineup against Trinidad & Tobago, with only middle Tori Dixon starting in both of the USA’s first two matches. Michelle Bartsch-Hackley and Sarah Wilhite played on the left pin, while Karsta Lowe earned the nod on the right. Micha Hancock ran the offense, Megan Courtney started at libero, and Dixon and Rachael Adams played in the middle. 

The USA barely blinked as it defeated the Caribbean team 25-11, 25-12, 25-11, out-blocking Trinidad & Tobago 11 to three and collecting 13 aces. 

"Our team did a very nice job of taking care of our side of the net and not worrying about the other team, and executing our game plan," Kiraly said. "We were serving very tough and I like how everybody has been able to contribute so much early in this tournament.

Match No. 3: Korea

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Korea didn’t fold quite as easily, and in the USA’s third match of the tournament, the Asian squad took the first set. Kiraly made a couple tweaks to his lineup heading into the second -- replacing starters Lowe and Bartsch-Hackley with Murphy and Larson, respectively -- and his team was able to win in four 19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18. 

The victory meant a guaranteed spot for the USA in the next round.

Match No. 4: Thailand

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The Americans took the first two sets of their match versus Thailand, but the 2017 Asian Games silver medalist squad pushed back in the third and fourth, ramping up its renown defensive efforts and pushing the match to five sets. 

It took 23 points from VNL MVP Bartsch-Hackley, 17 USA blocks, and eight USA aces for the Americans to ultimately escape with a 25-17, 25-16, 23-25, 21-25, 15-11 victory. Thailand out-dug the USA 59 to 43 in the match. 

“We knew from the start that Thailand is a great team with an incredible defense,” Akinradewo said. “We knew it could be a potentially long night. I think we came out strong from the start, and they increased their service pressure, they were passing better and doing a lot of combos.”

Match No. 5: Russia

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This matchup with Russia had no doubt been circled on the USA players’ calendar since they first got the Worlds schedule. 

The two teams played just a few months ago in the VNL tournament and the USA won in straight sets, but at the time Russia was missing its star player Nataliya Goncharova, who was not included on the VNL roster. In Thursday’s World Champs matchup, Goncharova made her presence known with 36 total points as the No. 2-ranked Americans went the distance against No. 5-ranked Russia, losing the fourth set badly, but ultimately winning the match 19-25, 25-20, 26-24, 12-25, 15-11. 

Once again, the USA relied on a balanced offense, benefitting from 19 points from Hill, 16 each from Larson and Akinradewo, 14 from Murphy, and nine from Lowe, who played in the double sub with Hancock in the first three sets and then started the fifth set in Murphy’s place. 

In five matches, Murphy leads the USA with 50 kills and 60 total points. Akinradewo leads the blocking effort with 0.60 per set, and libero Robinson is averaging 2.40 digs per set. Wilhite, who started just one match but has contributed as a serving sub in the other four, has collected a team-high nine aces and ranks 11th in the tournament with 0.45 aces per set.