2017 FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship

The FIVB Sports Events Council revealed a proposal to streamline the number of teams participating in the Age Group World Championships.^[6]

Means of Qualification		Date	Venue	Vacancies	Qualifier
Host Nation		2 February 2016	Lausanne	1	Slovenia
2016 European Qualifiers		27–31 July 2016	Vrnjačka Banja	2	Turkey
					Bulgaria
2016 South American Championship		27–31 July 2016	Lima	1	Brazil
2016 Pan-American Cup	For CSV	19–25 September 2016		1	Argentina
	For NORCECA			2	Dominican Republic
					Cuba
2016 African Championship		23–27 October 2016	Kasarani	2	Egypt
					Kenya
2017 Asian Championship		13–21 May 2017	Nakhon Ratchasima	2	Japan
					Thailand
World Ranking[7]		As per 1 January 2017	Lausanne	1	China
Total				12

Teams were seeded following the Serpentine system according to their FIVB World Rankings as of January 2017. FIVB reserved the right to seed the hosts as head of pool A regardless of the U23 World Ranking. Rankings are shown in brackets except the hosts who ranked 10th.

Pool A	Pool B
Slovenia (Hosts)	Brazil (1)
Dominican Republic (3)	Turkey (2)
China (4)	Japan (5)
Thailand (8)	Bulgaria (7)
Egypt (10)	Cuba (12)
Argentina (16)	Kenya (13)

The 2017 FIVB Women's U23 World Championship will be a testing ground for a new scoring scheme currently under review by the FIVB, which, if successful, could mark a historical turning point for volleyball – much as the introduction of the Rally Scoring System did in the late 1990s.^[8]

Matches in Ljubljana will be played to best-of-seven sets with each set to 15 points (with at least a two-point difference needed). Three ranking points will be awarded to teams winning 4–0, 4–1 or 4–2. Two points go the winner of a 4–3 match with one point for the loser. It is hoped that the new scoring system will reduce overall duration of matches, while making each set more attractive and exciting – much as tie-breaks are under the current regulations. The interval between sets is reduced to two minutes (from three). Teams will switch ends after the second set - and also, if needed, after sets 4, 5 and 6. In addition, there will be no technical timeouts – just two regular thirty-second timeouts per team per set.

The basic principles for the new scheme were tested for the first time in the Dutch League in the 2016–17 season. Further testing of the scheme were conducted at the Women's U23 World Championship in Cairo. During and after the competition, players, coaches, referees and officials will be evaluating the new system through a questionnaire, while duration and scoring statistics will be gathered and analysed.

This is the second time that a U23 World Championship serves as a testbed for new regulations. Matches of the inaugural Men's U23 World Championship in 2013 in Uberlândia were played to 21-point sets. In addition to the scoring system, a new serving regulation will be tried out in Cairo, with the server not allowed to land inside the court after a jump service.

The testing of the new rules has been received with criticism from the volleyball community.^[9]

1. Number of matches won
2. Match points
3. Sets ratio
4. Points ratio
5. Result of the last match between the tied teams

Match won 4–0 , 4–1 or 4–2: 3 match points for the winner, 0 match points for the loser
Match won 4–3: 2 match points for the winner, 1 match point for the loser

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Slovenia	5	5	0	15	20	2	10.000	331	230	1.439	Semifinals
2	Dominican Republic	5	3	2	9	16	13	1.231	429	390	1.100
3	China	5	3	2	9	12	12	1.000	302	304	0.993	5th–8th semifinals
4	Thailand	5	2	3	5	10	17	0.588	332	364	0.912
5	Egypt	5	1	4	4	12	18	0.667	354	415	0.853
6	Argentina	5	1	4	3	11	19	0.579	390	435	0.897

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
10 Sep	14:00	Dominican Republic	4–2	Egypt	12–15	15–6	15–8	15–12	15–17	19–17		91–75	Report
10 Sep	17:00	Slovenia	4–0	Argentina	15–11	15–10	15–10	15–8				60–39	Report
10 Sep	20:00	China	4–0	Thailand	15–11	15–6	15–11	15–12				60–40	Report
11 Sep	14:00	Thailand	4–2	Argentina	11–15	15–5	15–10	15–12	13–15	15–10		84–67	Report
11 Sep	17:00	China	4–2	Egypt	10–15	15–11	12–15	15–10	15–7	15–7		82–65	Report
11 Sep	20:00	Slovenia	4–1	Dominican Republic	15–11	15–9	11–15	19–17	15–11			75–63	Report
12 Sep	14:00	Dominican Republic	4–3	Argentina	21–23	12–15	15–12	17–15	16–14	20–22	15–5	116–106	Report
12 Sep	17:00	Slovenia	4–0	China	15–11	15–12	15–5	15–8				60–36	Report
12 Sep	20:00	Thailand	2–4	Egypt	9–15	15–7	11–15	15–9	14–16	4–15		68–77	Report
14 Sep	14:00	Egypt	3–4	Argentina	10–15	6–15	14–16	16–14	15–13	15–11	11–15	87–99	Report
14 Sep	17:00	Slovenia	4–0	Thailand	15–8	16–14	15–10	15–10				61–42	Report
14 Sep	20:00	Dominican Republic	4–0	China	15–10	15–13	15–3	15–10				60–36	Report
15 Sep	14:00	China	4–2	Argentina	11–15	13–15	15–8	15–11	18–16	16–14		88–79	Report
15 Sep	17:00	Dominican Republic	3–4	Thailand	15–9	15–12	12–15	15–11	12–15	11–15	19–21	99–98	Report
15 Sep	20:00	Slovenia	4–1	Egypt	15–5	15–17	15–10	15–10	15–8			75–50	Report

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Turkey	5	4	1	12	16	6	2.667	310	254	1.220	Semifinals
2	Bulgaria	5	4	1	11	17	9	1.889	358	292	1.226
3	Brazil	5	3	2	9	13	9	1.444	302	271	1.114	5th–8th semifinals
4	Cuba	5	2	3	7	11	13	0.846	307	320	0.959
5	Japan	5	2	3	6	12	12	1.000	313	306	1.023
6	Kenya	5	0	5	0	0	20	0.000	153	300	0.510

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
10 Sep	14:00	Brazil	4–0	Kenya	15–2	15–5	15–11	15–10				60–28	Report
10 Sep	17:00	Turkey	4–0	Cuba	15–12	16–14	17–15	15–8				63–49	Report
10 Sep	20:00	Japan	2–4	Bulgaria	13–15	15–13	15–11	13–15	12–15	11–15		79–84	Report
11 Sep	14:00	Bulgaria	4–0	Kenya	15–1	15–5	15–6	15–11				60–23	Report
11 Sep	17:00	Japan	4–0	Cuba	15–12	15–12	15–7	15–13				60–44	Report
11 Sep	20:00	Brazil	4–0	Turkey	17–15	15–12	15–6	15–12				62–45	Report
12 Sep	14:00	Turkey	4–0	Kenya	15–6	15–5	15–12	15–11				60–34	Report
12 Sep	17:00	Brazil	4–1	Japan	14–16	15–13	15–11	17–15	15–10			76–65	Report
12 Sep	20:00	Bulgaria	4–3	Cuba	10–15	12–15	11–15	15–10	15–10	15–11	15–6	93–82	Report
14 Sep	14:00	Cuba	4–0	Kenya	15–9	15–10	15–7	15–12				60–38	Report
14 Sep	17:00	Brazil	0–4	Bulgaria	10–15	5–15	14–16	9–15				38–61	Report
14 Sep	20:00	Turkey	4–1	Japan	15–12	15–5	15–9	12–15	15–8			72–49	Report
15 Sep	14:00	Japan	4–0	Kenya	15–7	15–8	15–6	15–9				60–30	Report
15 Sep	17:00	Turkey	4–1	Bulgaria	15–9	15–12	15–11	10–15	15–13			70–60	Report
15 Sep	20:00	Brazil	1–4	Cuba	12–15	15–9	10–15	15–17	14–16			66–72	Report

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

	5th–8th semifinals				5th place match
	16 September
	China	1
					17 September
	Cuba	4
					Cuba	0
	16 September
					Brazil	4
	Brazil	4
	Thailand	0
					7th place match
					17 September
					China	4
					Thailand	2

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
16 Sep	15:30	China	1–4	Cuba	14–16	15–6	10–15	10–15	16–18			65–70	Report
16 Sep	18:30	Brazil	4–0	Thailand	18–16	16–14	15–10	15–7				64–47	Report

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
17 Sep	14:00	China	4–2	Thailand	14–16	12–15	15–4	16–14	15–3	19–17		91–69	Report

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
17 Sep	16:00	Cuba	0–4	Brazil	12–15	6–15	8–15	13–15				39–60	Report

	Semifinals				Final
	16 September
	Turkey	4
					17 September
	Dominican Republic	3
					Turkey	4
	16 September
					Slovenia	0
	Slovenia	4
	Bulgaria	1
					3rd place match
					17 September
					Dominican Republic	2
					Bulgaria	4

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
16 Sep	15:30	Slovenia	4–1	Bulgaria	11–15	15–10	15–12	18–16	15–4			74–57	Report
16 Sep	18:30	Turkey	4–3	Dominican Republic	11–15	16–14	11–15	13–15	15–7	16–14	15–8	97–88	Report

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
17 Sep	16:30	Dominican Republic	2–4	Bulgaria	15–12	8–15	11–15	18–16	11–15	9–15		72–88	Report

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
17 Sep	19:00	Turkey	4–0	Slovenia	15–12	15–11	15–13	15–8				60–44	Report

• 2017 FIVB Volleyball Men's U23 World Championship

• Official website