On the fourth day of the third week of the Nations League, the Japan men's volleyball team played against the Netherlands and won 3-1 (25-19, 26-24, 23-25, 25-17).
First set starting lineup
Japan
OH: Ai Takahashi, Ishikawa
MB: Onodera, Yamauchi
OP: Miyaura
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
Netherlands
OH: Van Halderen, Jorna
MB: Prague, Wiltenburg
OP: Termat
S: Kaymink
L: Andringa
*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, the match started with a quick from MB Yamauchi, and with a service ace from OP Miyaura and a block from S Sekita, Japan took the lead 7-4 from the beginning. After that, in the middle of the match, OH Takahashi Ai and OP Miyaura's spikes scored consecutive points to widen the gap to 17-11. The Netherlands also scored points mainly from OP Termat's spikes, but Japan maintained the lead and finally won the set with a block from OH Ishikawa, 25-19.
In the second set, Japan scored mainly from OH Ishikawa and MB Yamauchi, while the Netherlands scored mainly from OP Termat, and the game continued to be competitive from the beginning. Towards the end, Japan made breaks with a service ace from OP Miyaura, a block from MB Onodera, and a service ace from relief server Nishida, widening the gap to 24-19 and taking the set point. However, the Netherlands succeeded in scoring five consecutive points with blocks from a serve by OP Nimir, who had been replaced, and brought the score to deuce at 24-24. However, in the end, OH Ishikawa scored a pass from a teammate, and Japan won the set 26-24.
In the third set, Japan started with OH Tomita, who had entered the court midway through the second set, in place of OH Takahashi Ai. Japan scored points mainly with OH Ishikawa and OP Miyaura, while the Netherlands scored points mainly with OH van Halderen, but at 8-9, Japan changed libero to Ogawa. After that, both teams continued to break but the score difference remained close, but in the final stages, OP Miyaura was caught by the Dutch block consecutively, and the Netherlands took the lead at 19-22. Japan brought OH Takahashi Ai back to the court, but the Netherlands maintained the lead, and in the end, OH van Halderen scored a spike to take the set 23-25.
In the fourth set, Japan started with OP Nishida, who had been in the middle of the third set. The game was close at first, but with blocks from MB Onodera, Japan took the lead 10-8. After that, S Sekita's serve was followed by blocks from MB Yamauchi and OH Ishikawa, who scored consecutive points to make it 15-9, and then a service ace from OH Ishikawa and a block from OP Nishida made it 19-10, widening the gap for Japan. Japan maintained the lead until the end, and in the end, a Dutch serve made an error, and Japan won the set 25-17, winning 3-1 against the Netherlands.
With this, Japan's overall record in the VNL qualifying round is now 10 wins from 10 matches, with 27 points, and they continue to hold first place in the provisional standings.
Japan's next match will be against Italy on Saturday, July 8th at 8:00 p.m. Japan time.
personal MVP
Japan: OH Ishikawa Yuki
18 points (1 serve, 3 blocks), attack effectiveness rate 33%
Most points on the team. While the other two wingers were replaced, he was the only one on the court from start to finish, supporting the team. In this match, he made a particularly large contribution with 3 blocks and 3 touches, and continued to put pressure on the opponent's main source of points, Termat. However, he himself was blocked by 4 attempts in his attacks, which was unusual for him, and he lost a lot of points, so this is something that needs to be fixed.
Runner-up: MB Akihiro Yamauchi
13 points (including 3 blocks), attack efficiency rate 62%
Netherlands: OP Walter Termut
21 points (1 serve, 2 blocks), attack efficiency rate 321 TP 3T
Most points for both teams. He was the substitute for the ace Nimir in this match, but he played well and brought points to the Netherlands. However, the loss of points at the crucial moment was painful. At his club team, Zirat Bankasi Ankara (Turkey), he contributed greatly to the league victory by skillfully hitting the ball at super-fast speeds, even though he is the opposite player, so I think he will shine even more on the national team if the setter can use him and Nimir well. However, Nimir was on the bench, but he was too often caught on camera (lol). I would like to see him wearing glasses and standing side by side with Coach Piazza.
Thoughts etc.
Ryujin Nippon records an astounding 10 consecutive wins!!!
It's disappointing that we lost a set to the Netherlands, who were without the world's strongest opposite Nimir, but the fact that we won is still a huge thing.
The first and fourth sets were relatively easy, but the second and third sets were extremely tough.
What was notable about this match was the performance of the substituted players.
In the second set, relief server Nishida had a service ace, and after Nimir, who came on as a substitute, lost consecutive points on his serve, Tomita came on to the court and made solid contributions with his serve receive and digs, preventing the set from being handed over to the opponent.
Nishida, who entered the game as an opposite from the third set, brought momentum to the team in the fourth set with his powerful spikes and quick two-attacks, and libero Ogawa also created opportunities for a comeback with many digs (although we were a bit nervous about the under-set play (laughs)).
A team where substitute players can do their job well is truly a strong team.
Especially the opposite, in the last match against China, Nishida started and Miyaura came in later, but this time, Nishida came in and changed the flow of the game when Miyaura was losing points, which was unusual for this tournament. It's really amazing that either one can start and either one can do the job when they come on in the middle. I'm sure Coach Blanc has a hard time deciding which one to use in this position every game (laughs).
Also, middle blocker Yamauchi was great with 13 points, the second highest on the team. This was largely due to the fact that the other two side players, other than Ishikawa, were not on the court the entire time, but still, 13 points in four sets is a great number for a middle blocker. And setter Sekita, who used his middle block aggressively, was also great. Let's use the middle block as much as we can!
In this match, Japan also had more block points than the Netherlands, with 12 as a team, averaging 3 per set, making it a very high match (and the Netherlands had the highest number of team blocks per set up until that point). On the other hand, Japan was also blocked out by the Netherlands relatively often, so, although this is a prediction, it seems that the Netherlands' strategy in this match was to compete with the blockers rather than attacking the Japanese receivers. It's true that Japan's floor defense is clearly superior to other countries, but their blocks are low. However, it seems that things didn't go as planned this time. Too bad for Coach Piazza!
The Netherlands' opposite Termat was very good, and the middle was also good, but the two on the side were not stable on the offensive side until the end. The only good one was Van Halderen in the third set. If either one of them had a high decision-making ability throughout the game, it would have been very difficult for Japan.
The libero for the Netherlands in this tournament is Andringa, who is an outside hitter on his club team. He used to play in the Polish league, so I watched him a lot. Although he's not tall, he has good attacks both forward and backward, and he's had quite a few aces with his serves this season, so I think it would be better to use him as an outside hitter. And wouldn't it be better to make Jorna the libero, Coach Piazza? (laughs)
Anyway, Japan has won 10 games in a row!!! Isn't this the first time in history? (Can someone who knows more about this please tell me?)
Also, with this result, Japan has been confirmed to finish second or higher in the qualifying round. So, my prediction is that their opponent in the first round of the finals will be France if they finish first, or Slovenia if they finish second. If it's one of these two, Slovenia, who finishes second, has a higher chance of winning. However, I think it will be very difficult to beat both Italy and Poland, and if they lose even one game, they will be overtaken by the United States, so I think that even if they don't aim for it, they will finish second and reach the quarterfinals with Slovenia. By the way, Polish fans don't like the Slovenian national team that much (Poland has lost to Slovenia every time in the European Championships), so I'm sure they will cheer Japan on enthusiastically if that happens (laughs).
Well, we don't know yet how the final round will be decided, but tonight we'll be playing against Italy. They're ranked high and don't have much to lose, so I think the players will be able to play with less pressure!!
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to tonight!!! Go Ryujin Nippon!!!
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Photo: FIVB
Photo book "CATCH ××× DREAM" featuring Ryujin Nippon's three players Ishikawa, Takahashi, and Nishida will be released on June 5th! ↓
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