“Speed of lightning, Roar of thunder! Fighting all who rob or plunder. Underdog! Underdog!” From the theme song “Underdog” written by Chester Stover, W. Watts Biggers, Treadwell Covington, and Joseph Harris and uniquely performed by Peter Tevis.
Day 6 in the Women’s Volleyball World Championship featured some outstanding early matchups, left four teams still undefeated at 5 – 0, and exposed, magnified, and exemplified the glaring weaknesses in the point system of FIVB pool play.
In Pool A, Dominican Republic defeated all five of their opponents (including Italy, which “won” Pool A), won one more set than Italy (15 versus 14) but finished second in Pool A to Italy because of the FIVB point system.
WOW!! Does this point system make sense? Underdog where are you? The Dominican Republic women’s Volleyball team needs you now!
The point system used by FIVB is a way to try (emphasis on try) to ensure fairly that every set and match matters in the outcome and figures into the results. Points are awarded based upon the six possible match outcomes, as shown in the following table.
| OUTCOME | POINTS |
| Win Match by a score of 3 – 0 | 3 |
| Win Match by a score of 3 – 1 | 3 |
| Win Match by a score of 3 – 2 | 2 |
| Lose Match by a score of 3 – 2 | 1 |
| Lose Match by a score of 3 – 1 | 0 |
| Lose Match by a score of 3 – 0 | 0 |
A team can lose a match by a score of 3 – 2 and still receive a point in the standings. But, this point system says that all wins are not equal and are not worth the same amount of “points.” A noble but very flawed concept.
Teams advance to the next round based on their point total first and their Won – Lost record second, followed by mathematical computations of things like points won/lost ratio. Therefore, every set and every match potentially figures into the standings.
It is all well and good for every set to count in the standings; however, with this point system as currently calculated, it is possible – and now has actually happened – for a team to go undefeated in their pool and still finish second in that pool, as the results of Pool A below show. To me, anyway, something seems grossly wrong and unfair with this point system and it needs to be recalibrated immediately after this tournament.
Current Standings in the Pools
Pool A as of 9/27/2014
| COUNTRY | POINTS | RECORD |
| Italy | 13 | 4 – 1 |
| Dominican Republic | 12 | 5 – 0 |
| Croatia | 9 | 3 – 2 |
| Germany | 8 | 2 – 3 |
| Argentina | 3 | 1 – 4 |
| Tunisia | 0 | 0 – 5 |
Pool B as of 9/27/2014
| COUNTRY | POINTS | RECORD |
| Brazil | 14 | 5 – 0 |
| Serbia | 11 | 4 – 1 |
| Bulgaria | 9 | 3 – 2 |
| Turkey | 8 | 2 – 3 |
| Canada | 3 | 1 – 4 |
| Cameroon | 0 | 0 – 5 |
Pool C as of 9/27/2014
| COUNTRY | POINTS | RECORD |
| USA | 15 | 5 – 0 |
| Russia | 12 | 4 – 1 |
| Netherlands | 9 | 3 – 2 |
| Kazakhstan | 6 | 2 – 3 |
| Thailand | 3 | 1 – 4 |
| Mexico | 0 | 0 – 5 |
Pool D as of 9/27/2014
| COUNTRY | POINTS | RECORD |
| China | 14 | 5 – 0 |
| Japan | 11 | 4 – 1 |
| Belgium | 9 | 3 – 2 |
| Azerbaijan | 7 | 3 -2 |
| Puerto Rico | 4 | 1 – 4 |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 – 5 |
Match Results from Sunday, 9/28/2014
| Day | Date | Match | Pool | Results |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Tunisia vs Argentina | A | Argentina wins 3 – 0 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Cameroon vs Turkey | B | Turkey wins 3 – 0 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Mexico vs Netherlands | C | Netherlands wins 3 – 0 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Azerbaijan vs Cuba | D | Azerbaijan wins 3 – 1 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Croatia vs Germany | A | Croatia wins 3 – 2 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Bulgaria vs Canada | B | Bulgaria wins 3 – 0 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Kazakhstan vs Thailand | C | Kazakhstan wins 3 – 0 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Japan vs China | D | China wins 3 – 2 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Italy vs Dominican Rep | A | Dominican Republic wins 3 – 2 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Brazil vs Serbia | B | Brazil wins 3 – 1 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | USA vs Russia | C | USA wins 3 – 1 |
| Sunday | 9/28 | Belgium vs Puerto Rico | D | Belgium wins 3 – 0 |
The Women’s World Championship now goes on a two day rest period with play resuming again on Wednesday, 10/1/2014.
Let’s hope Underdog can help us grow the game!
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