The Japanese men's volleyball team's quarterfinal match at the Paris Olympics, Japan vs Italy, will begin at 8:00 p.m. Japan time on Monday, August 5th.
In this article, we will introduce the Italian team and provide an overview and highlights of the match.
Italy national team members
Directed by: Ferdinand Degiorgi
*5 Alessandro Micheletto OH 2001 211cm Trentino
*6 Simone Giannelli (C) S 1996 200cm Perugia
*7 Fabio Balazo L 1995 178cm Civitanova
*8 Ricardo Sbertori S 1998 188cm Trentino
11 Giovanni Sanguinetti MB 2000 203cm Modena
12 Mattia Bottolo OH 2000 196cm Civitanova
14 Gianluca Galassi MB 1997 201cm Piacenza
15 Daniele Lavia OH 1999 200cm Trentino
16 Yuri Romano OP 1997 201cm Piacenza
19 Fabio Russo MB 1997 207cm Perugia
23 Alessandro Bovolenta OP 2004 202cm Piacenza
31 Luca Porro OH 2004 193cm Padova
Reserve
28 Gabriele Laurenzano L 2003 178cm Trentino
Italy's Features
① A group of high-level all-rounders
Italy is an all-round team with high levels of skills in spikes, blocks, serves, receives, and tosses. As a country with the world's top league, all of the players are good at volleyball and have a very high volleyball IQ.
Not only do all five starting attackers hit the ball with a good balance, but S. Gianelli, who is also known as the world's number one setter, hits the ball hard whenever he gets the chance. All of them also have strong serves that can always aim for an ace, and all of the starting members except for the libero are over 2 meters tall. And yet they often pick up the ball.
② Stability of the two outside hitters
Among this group of all-rounders, the two starting outside hitters, OH Micheletto and OH Ravia, are particularly stable.
Both players are well-balanced outside hitters who excel at both offense and defense, and their average performance is very high, so they are rarely replaced during a match due to poor form. The two are also teammates at their club team, Trentino (Italy), where they showed outstanding stability throughout the season and led the team to victory in the European Champions League last season. OH Micheletto was awarded the MVP of the tournament.
Italy's success is largely due to the stability of these two players' play.
3. Young but with solid experience and track record
The average age of Japan is 27, which is young, but Italy's players are all in their 20s, with an average age of 24, which is even younger than Japan. The oldest player on the team is libero Balazo, who is 28 years old. The youngest players are OP Bovolenta and OH Porro, both 20 years old. They are younger than the youngest player in Japan, OH Kai.
However, despite their youth, they have plenty of experience and achievements. The Italian national team changed generations after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and became a team centered on the current members, but immediately after the new team was launched, they won the 2021 European Championships, won the World Championships in 2022, and came in second at the 2023 European Championships, and have already won two titles and three medals in major tournaments.
In addition, all of the members have been playing in the world's top Italian league since their teenage years and have survived, so each player's experience is significantly higher than that of players of the same generation from other countries.
Don't underestimate him just because he's young.
Italy's notable players
OP Yuri Romano
Born in 1997, 201cm, Affiliation: Piacenza (Italy)
Italy was the only team to earn the maximum number of points, nine, and advanced to the quarterfinals in first place overall, and the driving force behind this was southpaw opposite Romano.
In addition to being the team's top scorer in each of the three qualifying matches, he made a significant contribution to the victories with his consistent performance, with high attacking effectiveness rates of 66% in the match against powerful Brazil and 50% in the match against Poland (only one goal conceded in both matches).
He has also been in great form, scoring seven service aces in three matches. His left arm is sure to be on fire in the match against Japan.
Qualifying Process
① vs Brazil ○3-1 (25-23, 27-25, 18-25, 25-21)
② vs Egypt ○3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-20)
③ vs Poland ○ 3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 24-26, 25-20)
Japan's recent results
Nations League 2024 Qualifying Round (May 25, 2024)
●1-3(25-23, 16-25, 17-25, 17-25)
*OH Ishikawa and OH Takahashi are absent
Nations League 2023 Third Place Match (July 23, 2023)
○3-2(25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 17-25, 15-9)
※ Nishida absent from OP
Nations League 2023 Qualifying Round (July 8, 2023)
●1-3(27-29, 26-28, 25-23, 20-25)
Nations League 2022 Qualifying Round (June 24, 2022)
○3-2(25-20, 21-25, 24-26, 25-19, 15-13)
Projected starting lineup
Positions: OH = Outside Hitter, MB = Middle Blocker, OP = Opposite, S = Setter, L = Libero
Japan
OH: Ai Takahashi, Ishikawa
MB: Onodera, Yamauchi
OP: Nishida
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
Average height (excluding libero): 190.83cm
Italy
OH: Micheletto, Ravia
MB: Galassi, Russo
OP: Romano
S: Giannelli
L: Balazo
Average height (excluding libero): 203.3cm
The key to Japan's victory
① Service aces are a must
Of course, attacking with serves is essential, but against Italy, who are particularly good at rallies, service aces that directly score points will be more important.
Specifically, they want at least two aces per set. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that in the matches they have won against Italy over the past three years, they have won with their serves, recording nine aces in five sets in the 2023 VNL third-place playoff and 14 aces in five sets in the 2022 VNL qualifying round.
Japan's big servers are OP Nishida, OP Miyaura, OH Ishikawa, and OH Takahashi. Among them, OH Ishikawa has not yet shown his true performance in this tournament, so I hope he will recover.
2. Prevent blocks from being received
In matches against Italy, where all starters are over 2m tall on average, Japan tends to be blocked more than usual (losing points due to opponents' blocks). Therefore, it is very important to keep this number low.
First of all, we need to make the opposing middle blockers aware of the center through Japan's quick kicks. Ideally, MB Onodera and MB Yamauchi should be able to make their presence felt with their spikes, just like they did in the qualifying match against Argentina. This will make it easier for them to be wary of the quick kicks and to block 1 to 1.5 players against side attacks and pipe attacks.
Also, in difficult situations such as high balls, instead of trying to hit the ball too hard, they can choose the optimal solution from various options such as feinting, aiming for a block out, or getting the rebound and recovering, which will help prevent the loss of points. In particular, rebounds are thought to be a big key, so I hope that L Yamamoto will work hard to cover the blocks.
However, the Italian players have been through the Italian league and are very good at blocking tactics, such as pulling back at the last moment, so you have to win against them when they try to feel out your opponent's stomach in the air. However, OH Ishikawa and OH Takahashi, who played in the Italian league, will know this very well.
③Stop S Giannelli's attack
Italy's S. Gianelli often attacks. Not only does he push the ball down from the usual tossing stance, but he also does a spectacular scowl and sometimes does a back attack during a rally (laughs).
Because of this, it is common for him to fake an attacking motion and then toss the ball higher.
When he makes an attack, the team gets on a roll, and S. Giannelli's own serving and blocking performance also improves, making him truly unstoppable.
His attack success rate is generally very high at 60-70%, so if he can pick up one of Giannelli's attacks, it will be a big play that will give him the momentum, and he will be able to put pressure on Giannelli and cause him to drop his form even a little.
We're looking forward to the digs from S. Sekita, who is also a setter.
In the past three years, both of the two games that Japan won against Italy were full sets, so this will also be a long match. On the other hand, I think that if Japan can take it to a full set, it will be at an advantage.
Either way, I think we're a better match than America, and we definitely have a chance of winning.
Japan's Key Players
S Sekida Seihiro
With Yuki Ishikawa struggling in this tournament, the key to his recovery will be setter Sekita. How Sekita can get Ishikawa on his game will determine the outcome of the match against Italy.
It is also up to Sekita to make his role as a middle blocker work as he did in the match against Argentina.
I don't want to think about it too much, but even if Ishikawa can't get back on track, if Sekita can perform at his best and bring out everyone's potential like he did in the third set against the United States with 120%, there is a chance of winning.
Team JAPAN wins.
I want to see the true essence of the world's smallest and strongest setter here.
Trivia
Teammates
- Ishikawa and Bottolo (Padua (Italy) 2019/20)
- Ishikawa and Sbertri (Milan (Italy) 2020/21)
- Ishikawa and Romano (Milan (Italy) 2021/22)
- Ishikawa, Gianelli and Russo (Perugia (Italy) 2024/25)
- Ai Takahashi and Bottolo (Padua (Italy) 2021/22)
- Ai Takahashi and Galassi (Monza (Italy) 2023/24)
Match Information
Quarterfinals vs Italy
August 5th (Monday) 20:00～ (Japan time)
tv set
NHK General TV: 19:50~ (General Sub: 20:54~22:00)
(Before this, a program called "Volleyball Men's Quarterfinals" will be broadcast from 19:30.)
Online distribution
NHK Plus
Japan men's upcoming match schedule
*Times are Japan time
Final Tournament
Wednesday, August 7th (time TBA) Semi-finals
Friday, August 9th 23:00~ 3rd place deciding match
August 10th (Sat) 20:00~ Finals
[PR] "ALL for DREAM -Footsteps to Glory- Japan Volleyball National Team Nations League 2024" will be available on U-NEXT from July 27th (Sat.)
A documentary program that closely follows the unknown behind-the-scenes of the "Volleyball Nations League 2024" and traces the fierce battles will be streamed on U-NEXT.
[Distribution date and time]
July 27th (Saturday) 5pm Boys #1 Boys #2
August 3rd (Saturday) 5pm Women's #1
Saturday, August 10th 5pm Women's #2
Saturday, August 24th 5pm Men's #3
Saturday, August 31st 5pm Women's #3
September 7th (Saturday) 5pm Men's #4
Saturday, September 14th 5pm Women's #4
(Quoted from TBS TV release)
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Photo: Volleyball World
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