On the sixth day of the first week of the Nations League, the Japan men's volleyball team played against France and won 3-1 (25-27, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20).
First set starting lineup
Japan
OH: Ai Takahashi, Ishikawa
MB: Onodera, Takahashi Kentaro
OP: Nishida
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
France
OH: Tiri, Carl
MB: Bruto, Jouffo
OP: Fall
S: Call
L: Dies
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
In the first set, OH Tille's spikes and Japan's mistakes piled up, giving France a big lead of 11-6. After that, Japan tied the score at 17-17 with OH Ishikawa's service ace and OP Nishida's spike, but the game went into deuce with neither side giving in. Finally, OP Fall scored a spike and a block in succession, and France took the set 25-27.
In the second set, both teams made mistakes at the beginning, but with MB Takahashi's consecutive blocks, Japan took the lead 10-6. From there, France gradually made breaks with OH Karl's spikes and MB Jouffo's blocks, and Japan made more mistakes and successfully turned the game around to 20-21. However, with a spike from OP Miyaura, who came in as a substitute, and a service ace from OP Nishida, Japan turned the game around again to 23-21, and finally OP Miyaura's block was successful, giving Japan the win 25-22.
In the third set, consecutive service aces from OH Takahashi Ai put Japan ahead at 4-2, but OP Fall's spike and OH Karl's service aces put France in front at 9-10. From there, the game was a back-and-forth side-out, but a spike from OP Miyaura, who entered the match as a substitute, and a quick from MB Onodera put Japan in front again at 18-17. Japan continued to score consecutive points with spikes from OH Ishikawa and other players, making the score 24-20, but in the end, France's serve made an error and Japan took the set at 25-21.
In the fourth set, Japan started with OP Miyaura and S Fukatsu, who had been in the middle of the third set. In the early stages, France was ahead 5-6 with MB Brutaud's quick and service aces, but OP Miyaura's spikes and consecutive service aces turned the game around to 11-8. After that, France also caught up to tie the score at 19-19 with OP Fall's blocks, but OP Miyaura's spikes continued and Japan reached match point at 24-19 with four consecutive breaks, and finally OH Tille's serve was an error, and Japan won the set 25-20, winning 3-1 against France.
With this, Japan's overall record in the VNL qualifying round is now 4 wins and 12 points from 4 matches, placing them provisionally in 1st place out of 16 teams at the end of week 1. The top 7 teams, excluding host country Poland, will advance to the final round.
personal MVP
Japan: OP Kento Miyaura
13 points (2 serves, 1 block), attack effectiveness rate 75%
Amazing. A stunning and overwhelming performance. He only played one set, but in that short time he made the biggest impact of anyone. He was brought on towards the end of the second set and brilliantly turned the tide in Japan's favor. When he returned to the court midway through the third set, he converted almost every toss he was given into a score, even if it was a high ball. His two consecutive service aces were thrilling. He was just too cool.
Runner-up: Yuki Ishikawa (16 points (1 serve, 1 block), attack effectiveness rate 501 TP 3 T, serve reception success rate 68%)
France: OP Theo Foll
21 points (including 4 blocks), attack efficiency rate 34%
As a source of points for the young French team, he contributed greatly not only with spikes but also with blocks. Although he lost many points in the second set, he performed very steadily in the other sets. Currently, the opposites on the French national team are two big players, Patry and Boyer, and the younger Lawani has also emerged, making the competition for positions fierce. However, there are rumors that Faure will play in the Italian league next season, and since he is still young, there is a good chance that he will grow by adjusting to the new environment before the Paris Olympics.
Thoughts etc.
I think a lot happened in the first half of the match, but in the end it was Miyaura who took all the lead (laughs).
Anyway, every spike was successful. Until the middle of the fourth set, even though he had hit 7 or 8 shots, including high balls, he scored all of them and had a 100% attack success rate. After that, he had one rebound and one block, but in the end, he showed a spectacular performance with a total of 13 points including serves and blocks, and an 83% attack success rate.
It was truly "Miyaura Theater."
I knew that Miyaura would get results whenever I played him from the first game, but to be honest, I didn't expect him to perform so well. He's way better than I expected. I've been rooting for him since the club season this season, but I can't even comprehend how amazing he's been since he started playing for the Japanese national team (laughs).
When he was at Nisa (the club Miyaura was with this season), his serve was certainly amazing, but he seemed to have a hard time dealing with spikes, especially high balls (two-stage tosses). And here it is. He was hitting high balls with confidence. The good defensive France was completely unable to handle them. In conclusion, I feel that Nisa was not making the most of this talented player's potential.
With such a good performance, Coach Blanc will have no choice but to use Miyaura instead of Nishida. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Miyaura will play against the strong teams such as Brazil and Argentina who will probably be competing with their full-fledged players in the second week of the French tournament.
Looking back on the game, the first set was tough as the side players were tired from the three consecutive matches and could not make any spikes, but from the second set, led by captain Ishikawa, they gradually regained their form and it was Miyaura who delivered the final blow. Both Japan and France were good defensive teams and in each set, we were caught up and overtaken, so I think it was a very exciting game.
Despite only having two members from the Tokyo Olympic gold medal team, France was a good team with the skill that is characteristic of France. In addition to the above mentioned falls, outside player Tilley not only had a solid serve receive, but also beautifully blocked out three-player blocks, and I couldn't help but exclaim "Wow!" many times as I watched. Looking at the numbers, the serve receive success rate and attack effectiveness rate were both 57%, which is impressive. They showed the full potential of the Tokyo Olympic gold medal team members.
With this, Japan was able to finish the Nagoya tournament in the best possible way, with 4 wins and 12 points from 4 matches. Even though none of the opponents were the best members, I think this result is very commendable. Considering that 10 years ago, the Japanese national team was not able to win against that B team, the Japanese national team has really become strong. And each game is really worth watching, exciting, and fun. There are also a lot of good-looking guys (lol). I really hope that more and more people will watch it. So if it goes to the final, I hope it will be broadcast on terrestrial TV!! (lol).
The next match will be in Orleans, France, where they will face Canada at 8:00 PM Japan time on Tuesday, June 20th.
After that there are strong teams like Cuba, Brazil, and Argentina, so we want to beat Canada and get the three points. But if they keep going like this, I'm sure they'll win!
Good luck Ryujin Nippon!!
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Photo: FIVB
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