In the first week of the Women's Volleyball Nations League 2024 Tournament, the Japanese national team played against Turkey on Wednesday, May 15th (local time) and won 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 20-25, 15-11).
Starting members
Japan
OH: Koga (31), Ishikawa (20)
MB: Watanabe (4), Yamada (9)
OP: Hayashi (8)
S: Iwasaki (2)
L: Kojima
Substitutes: MB Araki (3), OP Wada (1), MB Miyabe (1), S Seki, OH Inoue
Türkiye
OH: Baradin (15), Evegin (19)
MB: Caracci (8), Beisa (10)
OP: Vargas (12)
S: Ozby (1)
L: Shimuge
Substitutes: OP Karakurt (16), OH Aydin (2), S Sahin (1), L Aykatchi
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
※ () indicates score
TOSHIKI'S MVP
OH Koga Sarina
31 points (3 on serve, 1 on block), attack effectiveness rate 25%, serve reception success rate 43%
He was the undisputed MVP with his outstanding performance of scoring the most points on both teams with 31 points. As Ishikawa was the outside hitter opposite him, he was almost exempt from receiving serves, but he hit the ball regardless of whether he was in front or back, and contributed greatly to the team's victory on the offensive side, which is his role. In particular, he was entrusted with many high balls when the reception was disrupted, and he converted them into points. He also had the most service aces on the team with 3, and his spike reception of 14 was second only to libero Kojima, making his contribution on the defensive side of the ball stand out.
Match commentary
In order to qualify for the Paris Olympics in this tournament, the Japanese women's team needs to earn as many points as possible and be ranked high in the world at the end of the qualifying round (top of Asia, or within the top three, excluding teams that have already qualified).
Therefore, this victory over world number one Türkiye was a huge one in terms of points earned.
In addition to the outstanding performance of captain Koga mentioned above, Japan's serves also worked well throughout the match.
Although there were not many direct service aces, jump floater serves aimed at the opponent's outside hitters were highly effective, such as five consecutive breaks from MB Watanabe's serve in the first set and four consecutive breaks from S Iwasaki's serve in the second set.
They were also helped in large part by Turkey's attacking mistakes, including from point getter OP Vargas, but it also seemed that those attacking mistakes were also induced by Japan's blocking and defense, especially digs (spike reception), which were very much on the alert.
And in this match we also saw their mental strength.
Turkey started with OP Karakurt in the starting lineup and won the third and fourth sets in a row. Then, in the fifth set, Turkey scored three consecutive points from the start, and most people watching the match would have had the image of Turkey's comeback victory in their minds.
Japan then called a timeout, with captain Koga telling the team to stay calm, "We can definitely catch up."
Shortly after, Turkey made an attack mistake to make the score 1-3, but then MB Yamada's service ace helped Japan tie the score at 3-3.
After that, with a service ace from OH Koga and a spike from OH Ishikawa, Japan's momentum continued to grow, even in an away game surrounded by nearly 10,000 Turkish fans, and finally, with a spike from OH Koga, the game was decided with a score of 15-11.
This victory came despite the team being ranked number one in the world, playing completely away from home, and overcoming difficult circumstances given the flow of the game.
It was a really big win and it will have given the players a lot of confidence.
However, I am personally worried that we have relied too much on Koga. We will not be able to play this way every time we play consecutive games.
If I could increase the number of shots to the opposite forest or the middle, I think I would be able to fight more easily. Japanese women's attacks tend to be biased towards the left, so I would like to be able to use more back attacks when the opposite is a forest.
For detailed match stats,Here
Highlight Video
Next race information
vs Bulgaria
May 16th (Thursday) 23:00~ (Japan time)
Television broadcast
BS-TBS (recorded, 17th (Fri) 17:30~)
TBS Nations League special site:https://www.tbs.co.jp/volley-nationsleague/
Online distribution
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Photo: FIVB
English 
Japanese