In the second week of the women's qualifying round for the Volleyball Nations League 2025 (Hong Kong), Japan faced Italy on Friday, June 20th (local time) and lost 2-3 (23-25, 25-16, 15-25, 25-20, 17-19).
Starting Lineup
Japan
S Seki (1), OH Ishikawa (25), MB Miyabe (7), OP Wada (28), OH Sato (17), MB Shimamura (7), L Fukudome
Substitutes: MB Yamada, S Nakagawa, OH Fukazawa (1), OH Kitamado, OH Akimoto (1)
Italy
MB Fahl (16), OP Egon (16), OH Omorui (2), MB Danesi (11), S Kambi (1), OH Degradi (13), L Felsino
Substitutes: OH Nervini (15), S Eze (4), OP Malual (2), OH Giovannini
Battle Review
First set: Italy wins close match with blocks
In the early stages, OP Wada's spike, MB Miyabe's service ace, and Italy's mistake gave Japan an 8-4 lead. However, MB Faul's spike and OP Egon's service ace gave Italy a 14-15 lead in the middle stages. After that, OH Ishikawa's spike gave Japan a 21-19 lead again, but Italy's MB Faul's block gave them a 22-23 lead again. Finally, OH Sato's spike made an error and Italy won at 23-25.
Second set: Japan takes the lead with solid defense and serve
L Fukudome picked up OP Egon's spike twice, and MB Shimamura blocked the rally, putting Japan ahead at 5-3. Furthermore, OH Ishikawa's spike and a service ace allowed Japan to break and extend their lead to 10-6. Italy scored points mainly from MB fouls, but they could not catch up, and Japan instead broke the serve from relief server OH Kitamado with OP Wada's spike and widened the gap to 20-14. Japan's momentum continued after that, and finally OP Wada's spike made it 25-16 and Japan took the set back.
Third set: Italy's spikes, serves and blocks all worked together
Italy took a 1-4 lead with a service ace from OH Degradi. OP Egonu's service ace and OH Nervini's spike further widened the gap to 4-10. Japan also scored points mainly from OP Wada, but they were unable to get a break, and instead made a series of mistakes, widening the lead to 9-17. From there, Japan brought in OH Fukazawa, OP Akimoto, and S Nakagawa, but in the end, Italy took the set 15-25 with a block from MB Danesi.
Fourth set: Japan turns the tables with aggressive serving
In the early stages, Italy took a 7-10 lead thanks to a block from S Eze and a spike from OP Egonu. Then, an ace from OH Degradi made it 9-13. However, OH Sato scored from an OP Wada serve to make it 12-13, and MB Shimamura scored directly from OH Sato's serve to tie the score at 15-15. Furthermore, OH Ishikawa and others scored from a serve from relief server OH Fukazawa, and Japan successfully turned the game around to make it 19-16. After that, Italy scored side outs mainly from Ishikawa's spike, and finally, a serve error from the opponent made it 25-20, giving Japan the set.
5th set: Japan's wing vs Italy's middle
At the start, Japan took the lead 2-0 with two consecutive breaks from S. Seki's serve. However, Italy quickly turned the game around with two consecutive breaks from MB Danesi's serve to take the lead at 2-3, and the match continued. With both teams breaking the game, Japan scored points mainly through OH Ishikawa and OP Wada, while Italy scored points mainly through MB Faul and MB Danesi.
MB Shimamura took the touch against MB Faul's quick play, and then OH Sato's spike led to a 14-13 break, giving Japan the first match point. However, OP Maruau, who entered the match as a substitute, immediately spiked to make it deuce. Japan had three match points after that, but Italy easily allowed a side-out. On the other hand, Italy had a match point at 17-18 when MB Faul blocked OP Wada, but in the end, OH Ishikawa's attack error made it 17-19, and Italy won the close match 2-3.
Match stats:https://vnlw.volleystation.com/en/matches/2227535/
personal MVP
L Fukudome Emi
Serve reception success rate 52%, digs 13
This year's Nations League first starter showed his success in the Italian league. In his specialty dig, he repeatedly picked up the straight spikes of his Italian teammate and one-on-one partner, Ace Egonu, and prevented him from scoring. Even in his weak serve reception, he showed a stable performance in this match. "Dyson Fukudome" was still alive and well in his new team.
MB Sarah Farr
16 points (14 attacks, 2 blocks), attack efficiency rate 68%
A middle blocker who scored 16 points, tied for the team's highest score. Her quick moves, which combine height and power, are very decisive, and she can put pressure on the opponent from across the net just by standing there blocking. Her blocks were the deciding factors in the first and fifth sets. Personally, I think she is the best female middle blocker in the world.
▶ Start your free trial with U-NEXT now
Qualifying Round Rankings
As of 6:00am on June 21st (Saturday)
1 Italy 7 wins 0 losses 19 points 21/5 sets
2 Poland 6 wins, 1 loss, 18 points, 20/7 sets
3 Türkiye 6 wins 0 losses 16 points 18/5 sets
4 Japan 5 wins, 1 loss, 15 points, 17/5 sets
5 Brazil 5 wins, 1 loss, 14 points, 15/6 sets
6 Germany 4 wins, 3 losses, 13 points, 16/13 sets
7 China 4 wins, 2 losses, 12 points, 15/9 sets
8 Czech Republic 3 wins, 3 losses, 7 points, 11/13 sets
9 Dominican Republic 3 wins, 3 losses, 7 points, 10/13 sets
10 Netherlands 2 wins, 4 losses, 8 points, 10/13 sets
11 France 2 wins, 4 losses, 7 points, 10/13 sets
12 Bulgaria 2 wins, 5 losses, 7 points, 11/18 sets
13 USA 2 wins, 4 losses, 6 points, 9/14 sets
14 Belgium 2 wins, 5 losses, 6 points, 8/17 set
15 Canada 2 wins, 5 losses, 5 points, 9/19 set
16 Thailand 1 win 5 losses 4 points 6/16 sets
17 South Korea 1 win 5 losses 3P 6/17 set
18 Serbia 0 wins 6 losses 4 points 9/18 sets
Next race information
June 21st (Sat) 21:00~ vs China
How to watch VNL
Here's how to watch VNL2025:
Related links
Photo: FIVB
English 
Japanese