日本、ポーランドの粘りとブロックに屈し0-3で敗れ今大会初黒星【バレーボールネーションズリーグ女子】

Japan succumbs to Poland's tenacity and blocking, losing 0-3 and suffering its first defeat of the tournament [Women's Volleyball Nations League]

May 20, 2024 October 5, 2024

In the first week of the Women's Volleyball Nations League 2024 Tournament, in the Turkey round, the Japanese national team played against Poland on Sunday, May 19th (local time) and lost 0-3 (26-24, 25-20, 25-23).

Starting members

Japan

OH: Koga (5), Ishikawa (14)
MB: Watanabe (7), Yamada (5)
OP: Hayashi (11)
S: Iwasaki (1)
L: Kojima, Fukudome

Substitutes: OP Wada (4), OH Inoue (3), S Seki, MB Miyabe, OP Kurogo, MB Araki

Poland

OH: Ukashik (11), Mendojik (8)
MB: Alagielska (5), Witkowska (8)
OP: Stisiak (22)
S: Venerska (2)
L: Szczygłowska

Substitutes: OH Piasecka (3), OP Gałkowska (2), S Kowalewska, L Wisiak

*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero

※ () indicates score

TOSHIKI'S MVP

OP Magdalena Stysiak

22 points (1 serve, 5 blocks), attack efficiency rate 401 TP 3T

As Poland's point getter, he hit difficult balls and scored a lot of points. He also scored five points with blocks, giving Japan's side attackers a hard time.

Match commentary

This was their first loss of the tournament. It was the first time in 15 years, since 2009, that they lost to Poland in straight sets.

As Coach Manabe mentioned in the post-match interview, it was very painful to lose five consecutive points from 23-18 at the end of the first set and then lose the set. It is no exaggeration to say that this decided the flow of the game.

The key player in these consecutive breaks was Poland's OH Łukaszyk. She thoroughly targeted OP Hayashi with her serves, disrupting Japan's serve reception, and blocked right field attacks, matching up OH Koga on the left with OP Stisiak, who has a high block, to gain an advantage in the rallies. It can be said that the weakness of the Japanese system of placing a defensive player opposite was exposed.

Also, MB Watanabe, who was in the front at this time, had not been able to make an effective spike throughout the tournament, so Poland's block was almost completely compromised and two players were on OH Koga. Even Koga, as expected, had a hard time scoring from there when he was tightly marked by a wall of 203 cm and 191 cm.

As a result, Japan was completely caught out by Poland's serves and blocks throughout the match.

Poland only had one service ace, but as mentioned above, they had a sense of purpose in their serves. Also, unlike Germany in the previous match, Poland was able to block the ball well, covering the middle and dealing with Japan's fast side attacks, which was reflected in the numbers.

In fact, while Japan had four block points, Poland had three times as many, 12.

After watching this match, I once again felt that in order to reach a higher level, we need to improve our offensive power in the middle and right areas.

In that sense, it is regrettable that OP Wada, who entered the court midway through the third set and recorded high attack effectiveness rates of 571 TP and 3T, was not brought onto the court earlier or in his original opposite position.

I think there will be many difficult situations in future matches, but I hope that the bench will come up with effective countermeasures and use players accordingly.