In the Philippine Round of the third week of the Volleyball Nations League 2024 Men's Tournament, the Japanese national team faced France on Saturday, June 22nd (local time) and won 3-2 (17-25, 19-25, 25-16, 25-23, 15-10).
Starting members
Japan
OH: Otsuka (5), Ishikawa (33)
MB: Yamauchi (6), Kentaro (6)
OP: Nishida (2)
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
Substitutes: OP Miyaura (19), OH Kai (1), S Fukatsu, MB Onodera, L Ogawa
France
OH: Kleveno (15), Ruati (11)
MB: Lugoff (10), Sedic (7)
OP: Patry (21)
S: Toniutti
L: Grebennikov
Substitutes: S. Brizard (2), O.P. Fall (2), O.H. Karl (2), O.H. Tilley (1), M.B. Jouffroy (1)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
※ () indicates score
TOSHIKI'S MVP
OH Ishikawa Yuki
33 points (1 serve, 1 block), attack efficiency rate 441 TP 3T
It showed ISHIKAWA's world-class skills.
In the third set, after losing two straight sets in a one-sided game, he started off by slamming five spikes into the opponent's court in a row, giving his team momentum. He continued to spike the ball after that, scoring 33 points, the most for both teams, and contributing greatly to the victory.
The fact that he was able to pull the team through a seemingly hopeless situation with such spirited play is truly something only Yuki Ishikawa can do. He was amazing.
In particular, his two attacks in the fifth set, which looked like a fake set, were so cool they were almost unfair.
Setter Sekita also gathered the ball to Ishikawa from the third set, but it seemed like the ball was being pulled to him. I think Ishikawa is a player who has something like an invisible gravitational force that gathers the ball at such a crucial moment.
Even in Milan, I saw setter Porro being pulled by Ishikawa many times.
In particular, his two attacks in the fifth set, which looked like a fake set, were so cool they were almost unfair.
Yuki Ishikawa, you're number one.
Match commentary
In my article about the Netherlands match the previous day, I wrote that the match against France would be long, and that indeed turned out to be the case.
However, I never expected such a dramatic reversal to occur.
The first and second sets were very one-sided, with France superior in almost every aspect: attacking, serving, blocking, receiving and making fewer errors.
In particular, France's serve and block worked extremely well, and with effective serves and solid defense, powerful attackers such as OP Patrie were able to score attacks with a high success rate, allowing Japan to comfortably take the two sets in a row with scores of 17-25 and 19-25.
However, in the third set, OH Ishikawa started off with the fierce play mentioned above, scoring consecutive points and taking the lead, and OP Miyaura, who took the court in place of the struggling OP Nishida, also began to improve his success rate.
As the serve started to move forward, Japan's block also worked well, with three block points in this set alone. Furthermore, MB Yamauchi's final service ace in the final stages led to Japan taking the set with a large margin of 25-16.
France regained momentum in the fourth set, with OP Patry and OH Cleveneau scoring powerful attacks, but Japan's OH Ishikawa and OP Miyaura continued to show good form.
The four players traded blows, and the game continued to be closely fought until the end, with no difference in points exceeding three.
However, with an attack from OP Miyaura, Japan got the first set point at 24-23, and in the end OH Klewno made a costly attack mistake, allowing Japan to win the set by a narrow margin at 25-23 and take the game to deuce (nice serve from MB Yamauchi).
The fifth set also started with both teams trading points, but when the score was 3-3, OH Ishikawa made a sharp back attack that looked like a fake set, and then he served one more service ace and another that was an undisputed service ace, and Japan took the lead 6-3.
After that, OP Miyaura and OH Ishikawa scored multiple side outs with their spikes, and finally OH Ishikawa scored the final one to take the fifth set 15-10 and secure a major comeback victory 3-2.
A great win, a very big win.
I think this is the first time since the 2010s that Japan has beaten a (nearly) full-member France team since France became stronger. The fact that they were able to beat France, who they had been struggling against, before the Olympics should have given the team a lot of confidence.
Personally, I was happy with Miyaura's performance in the opening.
While OP Nishida has been in good form so far, OP Miyaura has not made much of an impact even after coming on as a substitute for two players. And now, today's performance. There is no doubt that OH Ishikawa led the team at the front, but without OP Miyaura's performance, we would not have been able to reach victory.
As S. Sekita said after the match, it was a little disappointing that the tosses were concentrated in the hands of OH Ishikawa and OP Miyaura, and he was unable to make effective use of his strong middle attacks, but I think it was a good experience for S. Sekita to learn that it is possible to win in this way.
Japan wants to maintain a world ranking of 5th or higher in order to have an advantageous matchup at the Paris Olympics. The next match against the United States will be a tough one, but let's get revenge for last year's Paris Olympics qualifying.
For detailed match stats,Here
Highlight Video
Standings (as of June 22nd)
VNL Rankings
1. Slovenia 10 wins 26 points ★
2. Poland 9 wins 26 points ★
3. Italy 8 wins 24 points ★
4. Canada 8 wins 23 points ★
5. Japan 8 wins 22 points ★
6. France 7 wins 21 points ★
7. Brazil 6 wins 20 points
8. Argentina 6 wins 18 points
9. Cuba 5 wins 17 points
10. Serbia 5 wins 16 points
11. USA 5 wins 15 points
12. Germany 4 wins 12 points
13. Netherlands 3 wins 11 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
Next race information
vs America
June 23 (Sun) 20:00～ (Japan time)
Television broadcast
BS-TBS (LIVE, 19:30~)
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Online broadcast (LIVE)
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Photo: FIVB
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