The Volleyball Nations League 2023 is set for a remarkable opening week in Antalya, Türkiye, with 16 women’s matches set to take place at the Antalya Sports Hall between Tuesday and Sunday.

The tournament’s Pool 1 schedule will feature some of the most exciting duels in international women’s volleyball right now, with the reigning Olympic, world and VNL champions all set to start their campaigns in the Turkish coastal city.

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The excitement will begin from the very first match, which will see defending VNL champions Italy, who are currently in second place in the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Rankings, take on Asian powerhouse Thailand on Tuesday, at 17:00 local time (14:00 UTC).

Both teams will enter the match in good form after Italy had dominant performances in friendly matches against Croatia and Canada last week while Thailand secured their 14^th gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games earlier this month. Outside hitter Myriam Sylla and middle blockers Anna Danesi and Federica Squarcini will lead Italy in the opening week.

Three hours later, Poland, who will be looking to build from their seventh-place campaign at last year’s FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship, and Canada, who will attempt to continue improving after finishing 14^th in their VNL debut in 2021 and moving to 12^th last year, will meet in the second and final match of the opening day.

The second day of competition in Antalya will begin with one of the most-anticipated matches of the entire Preliminary Round, the duel between reigning world champions Serbia and reigning Olympic champions the United States. The Europeans, who are at the top of the FIVB World Rankings, and the Americans, who are not far behind in fourth place, will clash at 17:00 local time (14:00 UTC).

Wednesday’s schedule will be concluded in style, with hosts Türkiye taking the court for the first time in front of their home fans as they face Korea at 20:00 local time (17:00 UTC). The match should mark the debut of Cuban-born star opposite Melissa Vargas with the Turkish national team.

“We’ve been trying to adapt to the new system brought by our new coach,” outside hitter Meliha Diken. “We didn’t have a lot of time to work will all the players before the start of the VNL, but we’ll be in front of our fans in the first week and that makes it very important for us. We know our fans will support us and we want to have a good start.”

The home team will also feature in one of the most exciting matches on Thursday, when they will face Serbia at 20:00 local time (17:00 UTC). This duel has gained significant importance after the two national teams switched coaches at the end of last year, with world champion Daniele Santarelli going from Serbia to Türkiye and fellow Italian Giovanni Guidetti taking the opposite route.

“There will be no easy matches this season,” Guidetti said. “Türkiye are always very strong at home and now they have Vargas, which should make them an even better team. I’m very encouraged by what I saw from my first days with Serbia. The players are incredibly talented and their attitude is outstanding.”

Defending champions Italy will have two difficult encounters to conclude their campaign in Antalya, facing Türkiye on Friday and the United States on Saturday. Both duels are set to begin at 20:00 local time (17:00).

The highlight of Sunday, the last day of competition in Antalya, will be the Asian duel between Thailand and Korea, scheduled for 14:00 local time (11:00 UTC). The Thais have been dominant against their rivals most recently, having won both their VNL and their World Championship encounters in 2022 in straight sets.

Simultaneously to the Pool 1 matches in Antalya, the Japanese city of Nagoya will be hosting the Pool 2 competition, where the other eight VNL participants – Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands – will be in action.

The VNL Preliminary Phase will feature three weeks of competition, with each of the 16 teams playing 12 matches. The eight best-ranked national teams in the Preliminary Phase will qualify for the Final Phase, which will be held in Arlington, the United States, from July 12-16 – host country USA are already guaranteed a spot.

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