In the Women's Volleyball Nations League 2025 Preliminary Round (Canada), the Japanese national team played against Canada on Saturday, June 7th (local time) and won 3-0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-19).
Starting Lineup
Japan
S Seki (2), OH Ishikawa (9), MB Araki (3), OP Wada (20), OH Sato (7), MB Yamada (5), L Nishimura
Substitutes: S Matsui, MB Miyabe, OH Fukazawa
Canada
S Bree (2), OH Mitrovic (2), MB Tokbuom (7), OP van Rijk (13), OH Johnson (9), MB Maglio (5), L Murman
Substitutes: L Watson, OH Gethen (3), OP Smrek (2), OP Borowski, S Pelland, OH Slinks (1), MB Andrews
Battle Review
Japan started the game by replacing three middle midfielders and liberos from the previous two games.
First set: Japan serve vs Canada block
It was a close match with Japan widening the gap, but Canada catching up. Japan continued to break down their opponents with their serves, scoring mainly through OP Wada and OH Ishikawa. Meanwhile, Canada did not allow Japan to score easily with their blocks, and also scored mainly through OP Van Reich. Even in the final stages, Canada took the game to deuce with a turnaround from their tenacious blocks, but in the end, S. Seki's service ace was successful, and Japan took the lead 26-24.
Set 2: Awakening of Yukiko Wada
The game was close until the middle of the match, but at 18-17, OH Ishikawa's serve broke the opponent's lead, and OP Wada scored consecutive spikes to widen the gap to 20-17. Japan's serve and OP Wada's momentum continued, and at the end, OP Wada scored a free ball returned from OH Sato's strong serve, and Japan won the set 25-20. OP Wada scored 9 points in this set alone.
Third set: Canada self-destructs under Japan's serve
Japan struggled with Canada's blocks, and even OP Wada had difficulty scoring attacks. However, Canada also struggled to get on a roll due to Japan's serve and defense, as well as their own mistakes. The score difference remained the same until the middle of the match, but with consecutive aces from OH Sato, Japan pulled away from Canada, 18-15. After that, Canada made more mistakes, and at the end, a Canadian serve error allowed Japan to win 3-0, 25-19. Canada made 13 attack and serve errors in this set alone, almost destroying itself.
Match stats:https://vnlw.volleystation.com/en/phase-3451-vnl-2025-women/matches/2227508/?stats_team=away
personal MVP
OP Yukiko Wada
20 points (attack 19, serve 1), attack efficiency rate 431 TP 3T
Not even a day after the match where he scored 17 points, he scored 20 points this time. In the second set in particular, he was wild with 9 points by himself (5 of which were scored after the 18th point), and an attack efficiency rate of 751 TP 3 T. He is a player who can be trusted with fast combinations and high balls. Of course, it is also good that S. Seki can provide a set that is fast but high and easy to hit. In the third set, he struggled with the Canadian block, but as he gains more experience, he will become more stable in that area.
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Qualifying Round Rankings
As of 19:40 on Sunday, June 8
| Ranking | Country | Number of wins | Points | Set rate | Scoring percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poland | 3 | 10 | 2.750 | 1.122 |
| 2 | Japan | 3 | 9 | MAX | 1.378 |
| 3 | Italy | 3 | 8 | 4.500 | 1.463 |
| 4 | Brazil | 3 | 8 | 4.500 | 1.215 |
| 5 | Türkiye | 3 | 8 | 3.000 | 1.213 |
| 6 | China | 2 | 6 | 2.333 | 1.213 |
| 7 | Bulgaria | 2 | 6 | 1.333 | 0.922 |
| 8 | dominican republic | 2 | 4 | 1.000 | 1.009 |
| 9 | Czech Republic | 2 | 4 | 0.857 | 1.033 |
| 10 | Germany | 1 | 5 | 1.166 | 0.959 |
| 11 | Netherlands | 1 | 4 | 0.714 | 0.944 |
| 12 | France | 1 | 3 | 0.500 | 0.803 |
| 13 | Thailand | 1 | 3 | 0.400 | 0.966 |
| 14 | Belgium | 1 | 3 | 0.400 | 0.850 |
| 15 | Canada | 1 | 2 | 0.500 | 0.976 |
| 16 | Serbia | 0 | 2 | 0.444 | 0.927 |
| 17 | America | 0 | 1 | 0.222 | 0.800 |
| 18 | South Korea | 0 | 1 | 0.222 | 0.715 |
Next race information
June 9th (Mon) 0:00～ vs Dominican Republic
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Photo: FIVB
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