In the second week of the Macau round of the 2024 Women's Volleyball Nations League, the Japanese national team played against China on Friday, May 31st (local time) and won 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 25-17).
Starting members
Japan
OH: Koga (25), Ishikawa (5)
MB: Yamada (8), Araki (8)
OP: Hayashi (13)
S: Iwasaki (1)
L: Kojima, Fukudome
Substitutes: OH Inoue (18), S Matsui, MB Miyabe, OP Kurogo
China
OH: One (1), Ri (23)
MB: Yuan (10), Wang (8)
OP: Con (9)
S: Diao (1)
L: One
Substitutes: OH Wu (10), OH Shu (6), OH Chang (2), OP Chang
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
※ () indicates score
TOSHIKI'S MVP
S Iwasaki Calendar
1 point (1 of which was served), team attack effectiveness rate 391 TP 3T
He made good use of his middle blocker and back attacks from the right to achieve a high team attack success rate. He also played a major role in the match, scoring six consecutive breaks from his own serve in the third and fourth sets, contributing greatly to the victory.
Match commentary
A match dominated by serves.
In the first set, MB Yamada hit three aces, and in the third and fourth sets, S Iwasaki, who was mentioned above, made multiple breaks and maintained the lead. Japan created an advantageous situation by attacking mainly with the outside hitter who was diagonally opposite OH Ri.
Japan also had a hard time blocking China, whose starting line-up, other than the libero, was over 10cm taller than them. Although Japan only had 5 direct block points, 1 less than China, they had 26 touches, 6 more than China, and won the rallies with their strong total defense, including their receiving.
MB Araki in particular was outstanding with 3 block points and 9 touches.
In the second set, they struggled against the powerful spikes of OH Li and MB Yuan, but otherwise they overcame the odds with a strong performance led by OH Koga and OH Inoue, who came on as a substitute.
China brought on OH Xu, who returned to the national team for the first time in three years, in the fourth set, but was unable to stop Japan's momentum that day.
This was a very significant win for Japan, as if they had been ranked higher than China in the world at the end of the VNL qualifiers, they would have qualified for the Paris Olympics as the top Asian team.
For detailed match stats,Here
Highlight Video
Next race information
vs Dominican Republic
June 1st (Sat) 17:00~ (Japan time)
Television broadcast
BS-TBS (recorded, 1st (Sat) 20:00~)
TBS Nations League special site (you can check the TV broadcast schedule, etc.):https://www.tbs.co.jp/volley-nationsleague/
Online broadcast (LIVE)
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Photo: FIVB
English 
Japanese