Recent major achievements
FIVB World Ranking 6th (as of 30/05/21)
2019
World Cup 4th place
VNL 10th place
Asian Championships 3rd place
2018
World Championships: 17th place
VNL 12th place
Registered Members
Outside hitter
#5 Tatsuya Fukuzawa 34/ 189/ 355
14 Yuki Ishikawa 25/ 191/ 351
17 Kenta Takanashi 24/ 189/ 337
19 Tatsunobu Otsuka 20/ 194/ 338
21 Ai Takahashi 19/ 188/ 343
Middle Blocker
#2 Futoshi Onodera 25/ 201/ 346
#6 Akira Yamauchi 27/ 204/ 350
15 Li Bai 30/ 193/ 344
16 Kentaro Takahashi 26/ 201/ 355
Opposite
#1 Kunihiro Shimizu 34/ 193/ 348
#4 Otake Ichisei 25/ 201/ 345
11 Nishida Yuji 21/ 186/ 350
Setter
#3 Naonobu Fujii 29/ 183/ 312
12 Seita Sekita 27/ 175/ 320
13 Maki Oya 26/ 178/ 320
Libero
20 Tomohiro Yamamoto 26/ 171/ 301
24 Tomohiro Ogawa 24/ 176/ 305
Average age: 26
Average height (excluding libero): 191.1 cm
Highest reach (excluding libero): 340.9 cm
Head coach Yuichi Nakagauchi
Projected starting lineup
OH2 21 Ai Takahashi
OH5 14 Ishikawa
MB3 15 Li Bai
MB6 #2 Onodera
OP 11 Nishida
S 12 Sekita
L 24 Ogawa
comment
The outside hitters are Ishikawa and Takahashi. Ishikawa mainly played in the No. 2 position on the national team, but new recruit Ai Takahashi has high reception and side-out abilities, so I thought we could move him to No. 2 and move Ishikawa to No. 5. If Ishikawa's defensive burden is reduced, he will have more opportunities to participate in attacks from a good position, and he will have more opportunities to be in the forward line, so we can expect him to block.
The middle players are Onodera and Lee, who are stable. These two are not only active in the forwards, but also have good serves. I think that is one of the big differences between them and the remaining players, Yamauchi and Kentaro Takahashi.
The opposite is Nishida. I don't know how his ankle sprain is, but I'm looking forward to it. After all, he's the only opposite in Japan right now, and everyone wants to see him.
The setter is Sekita. I think Sekita is the most stable. His serve is not fast, but he has a stable control serve. Very stable. Personally, I like Fujii too.
The libero is Ogawa. I think his server reception is very stable. The new V-League record is no joke! Yamamoto is also a good libero, but I personally prefer Ogawa's smart look. Aim to be the Grebennikov of Japan!
For now, we want to win against Iran and the Netherlands in the three consecutive games starting today. In fact, we have to win. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this international tournament, my first in two years!!
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