In the Men's Qualifying Round of the Volleyball Nations League 2025 (China), the Japanese national team played against the Netherlands on Sunday, June 15th (local time) and won 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-18).
Starting Lineup
Japan
OP Miyaura (14), OH Tomita (8), MB Rally (2), S Oya (1), OH Otsuka (8), MB Sato (9), L Ogawa
Substitutes: OH Yamazaki (4), MB Nishimoto (5), S Nagatsuyu, OP Takahashi Yoshiho (1)
Netherlands
OH Corps (7), MB van der Ent (6), OP Mace (5), OH Townstra (13), MB Wiltenburg (6), S Berghout, L Klok
Substitutes: S. Kamink, OP. Ahii (9), OH. Weikstra, OH. Bak
Battle Review
First set: Sato scores five points, Netherlands makes notable mistakes
Japan continued to score with OP Miyaura's spikes and Murayama's blocks, and the Netherlands made further mistakes, leading to a 10-7 lead. The Netherlands continued to score mainly from side attacks, but Japan also scored with MB Sato's service aces and spikes, widening the gap to 20-14 by the end of the game. After that, Japan continued to score side outs with OP Miyaura's spikes and the Netherlands' serve mistakes, and finally Japan took the lead with a 25-18 attack mistake by OH Corps.
Second set: Japan denies Netherlands a comeback
In the early stages, Japan took a 7-3 lead thanks to solid receptions from S Oya and others, with OH Otsuka's spikes and others scoring. However, in the middle stages, the Netherlands scored points with OH Taunstra's spikes and MB Wiltenburg's blocks, tying the score at 15-15. Japan brought in MB Nishimoto and OH Yamazaki, who scored points with MB Nishimoto's spikes and others. The Netherlands scored points mainly from OP Ahii, who came in from this set, and the game progressed to 22-22. However, OH Tomita blocked OP Ahii with a good serve from OP Miyaura, giving Japan a set point at 24-22. Finally, OP Miyaura scored a spike to win the set at 25-23, and Japan took the set.
3rd set: Miyaura's consecutive aces put the team ahead
The early stages were close, with Japan scoring with spikes from OH Yamazaki and OH Tomita, and the Netherlands with spikes from OH Corps and blocks from MB van der Ent, leading to a score of 9-9. After that, Japan scored consecutive points from MB Nishimoto's serve to take a 12-9 lead, but the Netherlands quickly caught up with OP Ahii's consecutive blocks to make it 12-12. However, OP Miyaura scored two consecutive service aces to make it 18-15, and MB Nishimoto's consecutive blocks continued to put Japan ahead at 20-15. Japan maintained the lead, and finally closed out the set with a spike from OP Takahashi Keiho, who entered the game as a substitute, to take the set 25-18 and win the set 3-0.
Match stats▼
https://vnlm.volleystation.com/en/matches/2227626/?stats_team=away
personal MVP
Kento Miyaura
14 points (12 attack, 2 serve), attack efficiency rate 451 TP 3T
The most points for both teams. In the first set, while the hit rate of both outside hitters Otsuka and Tomita was not improving, Miyaura showed stable scoring power and supported the team, and in the second set, he made sure to spike at key points. In the third set, he struggled with two of his spikes being blocked, but Miyaura's powerful consecutive aces brought the momentum to Japan. We can expect him to go wild in the Bulgaria round as well.
Benny Townstra
13 points (attack 13), attack efficiency 331 TP 3T
He led the team with stable play on both offense and defense throughout the game. He was the team's top scorer with 13 points, and his serve reception was also solid, with a success rate of 721 TP3T (no losses), receiving more than half of the Japanese serves. He won the Polish league last season, and is one of the more experienced players among the young players on the Dutch national team.
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Qualifying Round Rankings
As of 14:00 on Sunday, June 15
1 Poland 3 wins 0 losses 9 points 9/2 sets
2 Japan 3 wins, 1 loss, 9 points, 10/3 sets
3 Slovenia 3 wins 0 losses 8 points 9/4 sets
4 Brazil 2 wins, 1 loss, 6 points, 8/5 sets
5 Ukraine 2 wins, 1 loss, 6 points, 8/5 sets
6 China 2 wins, 1 loss, 6 points, 6/4 sets
7 Bulgaria 2 wins, 1 loss, 5 points, 7/5 sets
8 Italy 2 wins, 1 loss, 5 points, 7/6 sets
9 France 2 wins, 1 loss, 5 points, 7/6 sets
10 Argentina 2 wins, 1 loss, 5 points, 6/6 sets
11 Canada 1 win, 2 losses, 4 points, 7/8 sets
12 Cuba 1 win, 2 losses, 3P, 6/8 sets
13 Netherlands 1 win 3 losses 3P 5/10 sets
14 Serbia 1 win, 2 losses, 3 points, 3/7 sets
15 USA 1 win, 2 losses, 2 points, 4/8 sets
16 Germany 0 wins, 3 losses, 3P, 6/9 sets
17 Iran 0 wins, 3 losses, 2 points, 4/9 sets
18 Türkiye 0 wins, 3 losses, 0 points, 2/9 sets
Next race information
June 26th (Thu) 1:30～ vs Bulgaria
How to watch
Here's how to watch VNL2025:
Related links
Photo: FIVB
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