The quarterfinals of the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Championship (World Volleyball) will be held on Wednesday, September 3rd, with Japan facing off against the Netherlands.
In the first set, the Netherlands took the lead early on with two service aces. Japan also scored points mainly through Wada, and in the middle of the set, they broke from Miyabe's serve to tie the score at 13-13. However, towards the end of the set, Timmerman's blocks and other efforts allowed the Netherlands to score consecutive points again, giving them the lead 20-25.
The second set was a close one at the beginning, but Ishikawa was caught by the Dutch block, putting the Netherlands in the lead at 7-10. At this point, Japan brought in Kitamado to replace Sato, who was struggling with serve reception. However, Japan then scored eight consecutive points on Seki's serve to take a big lead of 15-10. Ishikawa and Wada continued to score steadily, and finally Wada made a successful attack to take the set 25-20.
In the third set, both teams showed impressive defensive rallies from the beginning, but the Netherlands disrupted Japan with serves from Jasper and others to take a 10-16 lead midway through the set. Japan continued to score with attacks from Sato who returned to the court and closed the gap, but the Netherlands continued to score with quicks from Timmerman and others to take the set 22-25, putting them just one set away from victory.
In the fourth set, Japan was in a desperate situation and the Netherlands took the lead early on, but thanks to a service ace from Wada and an attack from Sato, they tied the score at 11-11. Furthermore, thanks to attacks from Ishikawa and Miyabe's serve, Japan broke four times in a row with mistakes and service aces to take a 20-16 lead. Finally, Sato scored a final attack to make it 25-22 and send the match to a full set.
In the fifth set, the Netherlands took the lead by scoring three consecutive points, but Japan quickly tied the score at 6-6 with an attack from Ishikawa and a service ace from Wada, his fourth of the match. From there, both sides traded side outs, and the Netherlands went into the final stages with a 10-11 lead.
However, a challenge against Ishikawa's attack that was ruled out was ruled a block touch, putting Japan ahead at 12-11, and then Wada made another attack from a rally to extend Japan's lead to 13-11. In the end, Ishikawa made a powerful attack to win the set at 15-12, giving Japan a 3-2 victory over the Netherlands.
Japan - Netherlands
3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12)
Japan
Starting lineup: OH Ishikawa (26), MB Miyabe (10), OH Wada (27), OH Sato (13), MB Shimamura (9), S Seki (0), L Kojima
Substitutes: MB Yamada (0), OH Iwasawa (0), OH Kitamado (1)
Netherlands
Starting line-up: S. van Aalen (2), OH. Jasper (13), MB. Timmerman (18), OP. Danbrink (20), OH. Dahlderop (12), MB. Stute (12), L. Laceink
Substitutes: S. Bongaarts (0), O.P. van de Vosse (2), O.H. Voss (1)
Match stats▼
https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/women-world-championship/schedule/22447/#teamstats
This is the first time Japan has advanced to the semifinals of the World Championships in 15 years, since the 2010 tournament, when they won the bronze medal.
The semi-final will be against the winner of the USA vs. Türkiye match on Saturday, September 6th at 5:30 PM.
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Photo: Volleyball World
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