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Japan is too strong, comfortably defeating the powerful Serbia 3-0 [Men's Volleyball Nations League]

May 24, 2024

In the first week of the Brazil round of the 2024 Men's Volleyball Nations League, the Japanese national team played against Serbia on Thursday, May 23rd (local time) and won 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-22).

Starting members

Japan

OH: Otsuka (8), Kai (10)
MB: Onodera (3), Yamauchi (9)
OP: Nishida (16)
S: Sekita (2)
L: Ogawa

Substitutes: MB Takahashi (4), OP Miyaura (2), S Fukatsu, OH Tomita

Serbia

OH: Kovacevic (5), Ivovic (8)
MB: Mashulovic (3), Podrascanin (4)
OP: Atanasievich (5)
S: Todorovic
L: Couple

Substitutes: OP Luburic (8), MB Krasmanovic (4), S Jovović, OH Kujundzic, OH Perić.

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

※ () indicates score

TOSHIKI'S MVP

S Sekida Seihiro

2 points (1 serve, 1 block), team attack effectiveness rate 461 TP 3T

His skillful tossing work brought high attacking effectiveness to his team, and he contributed greatly to the victory. Not only was his set unmatched in accuracy as always, but his use of the pipe attack, a back attack from the middle, was particularly excellent, toying with the high Serbian block.

He also scored points with his serve and block. His serve was like threading a needle, aimed between three players on the opposing team, and he induced a momentary delay in judgment, resulting in a service ace. I was thrilled.

Also, seeing him look so happy in both scenes made me feel warm and fuzzy (laughs).

Match commentary

It was a near perfect match from the first set to the end.

In fact, in this match, Japan outperformed Serbia in all aspects related to scoring, including attack, serve, blocks, and fewer errors.

In terms of attack, in addition to the excellent pitching by S Sekita mentioned above, they scored points with a high attack effectiveness rate, centered around OP Nishida and OH Kai.

OP Nishida struggled with Serbia's block in the third set, but he basically maintained his good form from the previous match. In the match against Argentina, he was impressive with his skillful soft shots, but in this match, we saw many spectacular spikes that are typical of Nishida. In proportion to that, he also started to make more gorilla-like poses (lol).

OH Kai is really tall. I think there were many scenes where he was able to spike the ball over the high Serbian block. Also, compared to the Argentina match where he struggled with blocks, he only suffered one block, and maintained a high attack effectiveness rate throughout the match. But in a good way, he made me realize once again that he is an extraordinary player who is not typical of Japanese people.

MB Yamauchi also used his high quickness to record the team's best attack effectiveness rate of 711 TP3T.

On the serve side, OP Nishida and OH Otsuka continued to deliver aggressive serves, resulting in multiple breaks.

In particular, I felt that Otsuka's serve had improved to another level. Perhaps OH Tomita's performance in the match against Argentina inspired him, but the competition for the outside hitter position is fierce.

As if in proportion to the quality of his serve, he also produced a large number of blocks in this match. In particular, MB Kentaro Takahashi, who came on in the third set and made two blocks in a flash, is no wonder he is the best blocking machine in Japan.

L Ogawa, who was in the starting lineup for the first time with OH Otsuka, was also excellent in both serve reception and digging. It's also good to be able to jump set.

On the other hand, Serbia had good players but somehow it seemed like they weren't functioning well as a team.

In particular, OH Kovacevic, a technician who is normally very skilled, was lackluster on both offense and defense in this match, which was somewhat disappointing.

Also, I watched the L couple at the Paris Volleyball Club, but they still lacked the ability to be a libero.

The current members have been with the band for about 10 years now, and the transition to the next generation has not gone well. If things continue like this, further decline will be inevitable. It's painful to watch.

Anyway, the Japanese national team is stronger than I expected. I don't mind the absence of Ishikawa and Takahashi in a good way. Each player has high individual ability, and they are really strong as a team. What is this? I still can't believe that this is the Japanese men's volleyball national team.

The reality is that Japan is now playing volleyball, a sport that once defeated and beaten them badly by their opponents.

What an amazing time we live in.

Now, in the Brazilian round, the only matches left are Cuba and Italy.

Miyaura will probably be in the starting lineup soon.

For detailed match stats,Here

Highlight Video

Next race information

vs Cuba

Friday, May 24th, 26:00~ (Japan time)

Television broadcast

BS-TBS (recorded, 25th (Sat) 21:00~)

TBS Nations League special site (you can check the TV broadcast schedule, etc.):https://www.tbs.co.jp/volley-nationsleague/

Online broadcast (LIVE)

①VBTV (English, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home

②U-NEXT (Japanese, paid)

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For more information on how to watch the Nations League online, click here:

Photo: FIVB

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