In the 7th-8th place ranking match of the Polish Men's Volleyball League (Przlyga), Miyaura Kento's team, NYSA, played against Olsztyn away on Monday, April 24th local time, and won 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-14).
Miyaura Kento started in this match and scored 12 points, second highest on the team.
First set starting lineup
Nisa
OH: El Glaoui (Morocco), Gerzhod (Poland)
MB: Jankowski (Poland), Zerba (Argentina)
OP: Miyaura (Japan)
S: Szczurek (Poland)
L: Dembiec (Poland)
Olsztyn
OH: Kaliczek (Germany), Andringa (Netherlands)
MB: Jakubishak (Poland), Avril (USA)
OP: Butorin (Poland)
S: Pajonk (Poland)
L: Ciunaitis (Poland)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
This was Miyaura's second start of the season.
In the first set, Nisa took a big lead early on with spikes from Miyaura and blocks from Zerba, leading 7-2.
After that, a service ace from Kalicek narrowed the gap to 7-5, but Nisa scored consecutive points with blocks and spikes from El Glaoui to widen the gap again to 15-8.
Nisa continued to score points with spikes from Miyaura and a service ace from Jankowski, and finally a direct spike from Gerjot gave Nisa the set, 25-16.
In the second set, Olsztyn extended its lead to 2-6 thanks to consecutive aces from Kaliczek and blocks from Krul (OP, Poland), who came on in the middle of the first set.
However, with a service ace from Miyaura, Nisa tied the score at 8-8, and then with another service ace from El Glaoui, they managed to turn the game around to 12-10.
Nisa continued to break through with service aces from Miyaura and spikes from Zerba, widening the lead to 20-15.
In the final minutes, Szczuk scored two consecutive service aces, and Nisa continued her momentum, winning the set 25-17.
In the third set, Olsztyn started off by missing four consecutive attacks, giving up points, and Nysa took a 6-1 lead.
After that, a spike from Elglaoui and a service ace from Miyaura made it 14-4, and then with spikes and blocks from Jankowski and Elglaoui, Nisa continued to score points, reaching match point with a 15-point lead at 24-9.
Olsztyn then scored five consecutive points thanks to a spike from Krul and a block from Jakubishak to close the gap to 24-14, but in the end Avril's serve hit the net, giving Nisa the set 25-14 and a 3-0 victory.
MVP: OH Zoeheir Elglaoui (14 points (2 serves, 5 blocks), 47% attack success rate, 42% serve reception success rate)
Miyaura Kento was second on the team with 12 points (3 serves and 1 block) and an attack success rate of 44%.
As a result, Nisa finished the season in 7th place out of 14 teams.
Thoughts etc.
As expected, Miyaura was in the starting lineup!!! Joy!!!
The setter on this day was Szczuk, who Miyaura said he usually plays well with, and he was able to score points with fast, high sets that made the most of Miyaura's strengths.
However, at the beginning of the first set, I was struggling with my serves and spiking on high balls, but once I scored one high ball, I think I improved a lot from there.
Especially when it came to serving, from the second set onwards, I became an ace machine, hitting an ace every time it was my turn to serve (laughs).
He also recorded the most digs on the team, making a significant contribution to the team defensively.
He had the most points on the team until halfway through the match, so it seemed like he might become the first MVP in the final match of the season, but El Glaoui outscored him in the third set and he was unable to win the MVP award...
To be honest, if the match had been a little longer, or if he had had at least one more serve, he might have won the MVP, but Olsztyn was just too terrible today.
Their opponent, Olsztyn, lost an incredibly high number of attacks in the three sets, with 23 attempts (11 mistakes and 12 blocks), and their team attack effectiveness rate was an unprecedented 6%.
Miyaura's idol (?), opposite rider Butorin, was also in poor form and was substituted early on.
To be honest, I think there was a problem with the setter, but for some reason the setter remained the same until the end...
It's true that it's just a ranking battle, and it wouldn't make much difference if they were in 7th or 8th place, but I feel sorry for the Olsztyn fans and wonder how they could have played a game like this in front of nearly 1,000 home fans.
Also, Olsztyn fought all the way through the playoff quarterfinals until the final fifth game, and the team as a whole may have been suffering from a sort of burnout syndrome.
Looking back, many of the players were careless when warming up before the match (laughs).
I'm glad that Nisa won, but to be honest, I would have liked to see a fierce battle between the two of them until the end.
I said the same thing in my comments about the Italian League fifth place match, but if you're a professional player playing for money, you want to do your best until the end in order to win.
Fans are moved and inspired by the sight of both teams trying so hard.
I think showing a game where they lose while still having that kind of energy left is disrespectful to the fans who have spent their time and money to come to the venue.
Now, back to Nisa.
Since this was an away game on a weekday, the Nisa supporters' squad was small, at only five people, but the Nisa bench loudly cheered on the members on the court.
In particular, when it was time to serve, the nicknames that their teammates actually call them were called out loudly, and many players noticed this before serving and broke into a smile.
Among them, I think the "Kent" call was especially loud (laughs).
The bench is calling for Kent today!! Miyanoura's service ace!! pic.twitter.com/WglQiWLoyj
— TOSHIKI (@toshikit71) April 24, 2023
The whole team was really in a good mood.
Everyone seemed to be having a really good time.
This is something I've felt since I first saw Nisa play this season, but I was reminded once again that everyone on the team really gets along well and has built great relationships.
A staff member I became friendly with also told me, "In recent years there have always been players on the team with bad attitudes, but this season all the players were great," so it seems that this is not wrong after all.
One of the reasons why Nisa has been able to leap forward from last season's last place ranking to 7th out of 16 teams without any major recruits may be that they have gathered players with good personalities.
Because volleyball is a team sport, not only individual ability but also team tactics are very important, and therefore the relationships between individuals have a big impact on the game.
Poland's Saksa, who are currently on a two-year winning streak in the European Champions League, also apparently listens to detailed information about the player's personality from players and staff who are knowledgeable about the player when acquiring him.
In that sense, it may be fair to say that Nisa has been very successful in acquiring players this season.
It's true that his serve reception was disastrous (lol), but aside from that, Nisa this season was someone you really found yourself rooting for when watching him.
Although Miyaura had few opportunities to play as a spiker this season, being surrounded by such great team members in the Polish league, the world's top league, must have been a great asset for him.
I hope he will use all the assets he gained in Poland, as well as the disappointment of not being able to play, in the upcoming national team season!!!
Good luck Miyaken!!!
Photo: PZPL
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