In the Philippine Round of the third week of the Volleyball Nations League 2024 Men's Tournament, the Japanese national team played against the Netherlands on Friday, June 21st local time and won 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-20).
Starting members
Japan
OH: Otsuka (8), Ishikawa (15)
MB: Onodera (4), Kentaro (8)
OP: Nishida (16)
S: Sekita
L: Ogawa
Substitutes: OP Miyaura (1), OH Kai (1), S Fukatsu
Netherlands
OH: Van Halderen (10), Termaert (7)
MB: Plaque (5), Parkinson's (6)
OP: Nimil (7)
S: Kemink (1)
L: Andringa
Substitutes: OP Ai (6), S Mace, OH Jorna, OH Corpse, MB Wittenburg
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
※ () indicates score
TOSHIKI'S MVP
OP Nishida Yutaka
16 points (3 serves, 3 blocks), attack efficiency rate 321 TP 3T
Based on their performance up to the second set, I thought OH Ishikawa or MB Kentaro would be the MVP, but in the third set Nishida took it all.
In terms of attack, his performance was not particularly good compared to OH Ishikawa, who had an effectiveness rate of 691 TP3T, but his serve in the third set was incredible.
After falling behind by three points at 9-12, he hit three service aces with a well-balanced serve, and all the other serve breaks he made to break his opponent for seven straight serve breaks, making the score 16-12 and saving Japan from a difficult situation.
One of them was a mistake due to the opponent being out of position, but the ball itself was a service ace that knocked the receiver flying (laughs).
Nishida also had the most block points of both teams with 3. He doesn't seem to be the shortest among the attackers on either team.
Nishida is really amazing this year.
Match commentary
Japan bounced back brilliantly from their loss to Canada and once again proved their strength in this match.
Although OH Ai was benched, we had won the friendly match before the Nations League against the Netherlands without OH Ishikawa and OH Ai, so we thought we would win this time as well. However, we did not expect the situation to turn out like this.
The first and second sets were played completely at Japan's pace.
S Sekita skillfully dispersed the tosses and made it difficult for the opponents to focus on one target, resulting in highly effective attacks, and Japan, led by OH Ishikawa, OH Otsuka, MB Kentaro and others, scored points.
Japan's serve and block worked well, allowing them to consistently get breaks, while the Netherlands' strong defense and many attacking mistakes significantly reduced the effectiveness of their attacks.
In particular, the lack of improvement in the attack effectiveness rate of OP Nimir, the star ace, had a big impact (however, he did score two amazing service aces in the second set, far surpassing the number of service aces in the VNL, more than double that of the second place player).
Partway through the second set, young OP Ai took to the court to replace OP Nimir, and scored spikes with a high success rate.
In addition, the Netherlands had several service aces and blocks from the beginning of the third set, and the match proceeded at the Dutch pace until halfway through.
However, thanks to OP Nishida's demonic performance as mentioned above, Japan managed to make a huge comeback, and from there, with OH Ishikawa's spikes and other efforts, they consistently scored side outs to reach match point at 24-17.
From there, Japan allowed the Netherlands to score consecutive points, but in the end, after a long rally, OH Ishikawa scored a brilliant back attack after S Sekita's dig, and Japan took the third set 25-20, winning 3-0 against the Netherlands.
There is no sign that Japan will lose to the Netherlands. Coach Piazza is not scary either (laughs).
OH Otsuka, who took over as a starter in place of OH Ai, had some issues with his attacking numbers dropping in the second half of the game, but I think he made a strong impression on the defensive side with his stable serve reception.
I also wish he had tried a little harder with his serve.
L Ogawa, who was assigned as the starting libero for this match, showed great performance in serve reception and digging, but gave up two aces to OP Nimir's serve. No, OP Nimir's serve can't be helped. Rather, it is more impressive that he was able to receive the same number of serves or more normally.
He also gave some good tosses.
As we approach the Paris Olympics, the competition for outside hitters and liberos is extremely fierce and the level of competition is very close. I wonder what will happen.
Well, it seems that the straight win against the Netherlands has secured their place in the final round in Lodz (Poland). I was planning to go there too, so I was relieved to hear that the Japanese team will also be there.
Japan would like to win the remaining matches against France and the United States in order to determine the VNL final round matchup, and above all, for the Paris Olympics matchups.
First up is the match against France on Saturday, which promises to be a long one.
For detailed match stats,Here
Highlight Video
Standings (as of June 21st (Japan time))
VNL Rankings
1. Slovenia 9 wins 23 points ★
2. Poland 8 wins 24 points ★
3. Italy 8 wins 24 points ★
4. Canada 7 wins 21 points ★
5. France 7 wins 20 points ★
6. Japan 7 wins 20 points ★
7. Brazil 6 wins 20 points
8. Argentina 5 wins 15 points
9. Cuba 4 wins 14 points
10. Serbia 4 wins 12 points
11. USA 4 wins 12 points
12. Germany 4 wins 12 points
13. Netherlands 3 wins 10 points
14. Bulgaria 3 wins 8 points
15. Iran 2 wins 6 points
16. Türkiye 1 win 5 points
*The top 7 teams and the host country (Poland) will advance to the final round (June 27-30)
★…Final round advancement confirmed
World Rankings
1. Poland 422.15 ☆
2. Italy 363.44 ★
3. Slovenia 343.24 ★
4. Japan 341.78 ☆
5. America 332.37 ☆
6. Brazil 324.22 ☆
7. France 315.16 ☆
8. Argentina 294.70 ★
9. Canada 278.55 ☆
10. Serbia 256.50
11. Germany 246.01 ☆
12. Cuba 245.68
13. Netherlands 205.93
20 Egypt 164.05 ★ (Top in Africa)
*At the end of the VNL qualifying round, the top four African countries, excluding the top African team and the team that has already qualified for the Paris Olympics, will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
☆…Host country and countries that have qualified through Olympic qualifiers
★…Qualification for the Paris Olympics confirmed after the VNL qualifying round
Next race information
vs France
June 22 (Sat) 20:00～ (Japan time)
Television broadcast
BS-TBS (LIVE, 19:30~)
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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Photo: FIVB
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