In the fifth round of the Polish Men's Volleyball League, NYSA, the team Miyaura Kento belongs to, played against last season's Polish League champions and European Champions League winners, Sakza Kedzierzyn Kozile (hereinafter referred to as SAKZA), at home on Friday, October 21st (local time), and NYSA won in straight sets, 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-20).
Miyaura came on as a relief server, and although he wasn't able to score directly, he helped his teammates break through with his powerful serves.
Starting lineup for the first set
Nisa
OH: Gerzhod (Poland), Kwasowski (Poland)
MB: Zerba (Argentina), Abramovic (Poland)
OP: Bentara (Tunisia)
S: Zukowski (Croatia)
L: Dembiec (Poland)
XAXA
OH: Kalyagin (Bulgaria), Silivka (Poland)
MB: Smith (USA), Pashtsky (Ukraine)
OP: Kurz (Poland)
S: Janusz (Poland)
L: Shoji (USA)
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
In the early stages of the first set, Nisa made side outs mainly through OP Ventara and Zaksa through OH Kalyagin, resulting in a close match with the score never being separated by more than two points.
The game started to change in the middle of the set when OP Kurtz of SAKSA was called for a foul for stepping over the line during a back attack, and then OH Gerjot of NYSA fired powerful serves into the opponent's court, scoring three consecutive serve aces, putting NYSA ahead at 16-11.
At 23-19, Miyaura was brought in as a relief server, and OP Ventara scored from his own nice receive, bringing Nisa to match point at 24-19.
From there, Zaksa's MB Smith made two consecutive blocks to put up some resistance, but in the end, OH Kwasovski scored a goal for Nysza to take the set 25-21.
In the second set, Zakusa got some blocks early on, while Nisa made some attacking mistakes, giving Zakusa a 2-6 lead.
However, Nisa then scored consecutive breaks with an ace from MB Zerba and blocks from MB Abramovic and OP Ventala to tie the score at 9-9.
After that, Nisa continued to break down the Zaksa receivers with his powerful serves, and in transition situations the three players on the side made sure to score, gradually gaining breaks and reaching set point with a six-point lead at 24-18.
Here again, Zaksa's MB Pasicky made two consecutive blocks, and then OP Ventala made a spike error, bringing the score to 24-22.
However, in the end, Zaksa's OH Kalyagin stepped on the end line while serving, putting Nisa in checkmate at 25-22.
In the third set, with no other options, Saksa started the set by replacing Kurz with Kaczmarek, who was originally in the starting lineup.
In the early stages, Zaxa's MB Smith made consecutive attack mistakes, giving Nisa a 6-3 lead.
However, Zaksa picked up Nisa's spike, and OP Kaczmarek scored the ball, and before we knew it, Zaksa had made a comeback and was up 9-10.
However, Nysa managed to turn the game around after an attack error by Zaksa's MB Pasicky, and then they scored consecutive points with a block from OH Kwasovski, extending their lead again to 17-14.
Nisa continued to score with OP Ventara and OH Gerjot, and brought in relief pitcher Miyaura again when the score was 23-20.
Although he didn't produce an ace, Miyaura's powerful serves assisted his teammates' blocks and induced the opponents to make spike mistakes, resulting in two consecutive breaks.
Nisa went on to win the set 25-20, defeating the reigning champion, Zaxa, in straight sets.
The MVP was OH's Gerjot (2nd time), who scored the team's highest 16 points (3 of which were from the ace).
With this, Nisa is now in third place with a total of 4 wins, 1 loss and 13 points (as of October 24th).
The next match will be against Jastrzcienbski Wenger at home on Sunday, October 30th at 17:30 local time (1:30 am Japan time).
Thoughts etc.
To be honest, I didn't think I could beat Zakusa, let alone win in straight sets.
Although their strength is down compared to last season, they are still a club that has been European champions for two consecutive years.
Winning here in straight sets is truly an accomplishment!
Gergiot, who was also selected as the MVP of this match, played really well.
He hit three consecutive service aces, and was able to score by mixing attacks and soft hits, so I got the impression that he has a good eye for the court.
And his RBI is still as high as ever!!
If Sekita had been able to perform at this level with Rubin, it would have been so much easier (laughs).
There is still room for improvement in terms of serve reception, but if he continues at this rate, I have a feeling he will be selected for the national team next season.
I was also happy that Miyaura was on the court for the last point.
It was also kind of cute to see him hopping around by himself after the match point was reached (lol).
That being said, his break rate on serve is really high.
But I'd really like to see him attack next time.
I also felt once again that Nisa is a team with very good serves overall, and although their serve reception is not very strong, all three players on the side are able to score points, so in that sense they are a very well-balanced team.
This means not only are they in line to advance to the playoffs, but they're also in line to win a medal or even a title.
I'm looking forward to what's to come.
On the other hand, I'm worried about Zakxa.
As expected, the hole left by Semeniuk, who moved to Perugia in Italy this season, has not been effectively filled, and to put it bluntly, this season's Zaksa has become merely an inferior version of last season's.
Kalyagin and Jalinski are not up to the task.
That said, who can we add to our team now?
Anyway, I'm worried.
It was also a shame that Kaczmarek wasn't played from the start of the game.
Still, looking at how it felt today, it seems like Nisa won.
Sakza may be able to manage in the Polish league, but it will be tough for them to even make it to the top four, let alone win the Champions League this year.
I hope a really good OH will come along as my savior.
I think the best targets will be Chinese league players, as they finish quickly.
It would be great if someone like Yuanto Reena came (laughs).
Photo: PZPL
English 
Japanese