In the third week of the Women's Volleyball Nations League 2025 Preliminary Round (Chiba), Japan faced France on Wednesday 9 July local time and won 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-19).
Starting Lineup
Japan
S Seki, OH Ishikawa (9), MB Miyabe (6), OP Wada (9), OH Sato (19), MB Shimamura (8), L Kojima
Substitutes: OH Fukazawa, S Nakagawa, OH Kitamado, OP Akimoto (1)
France
MB Silves (1), S Cerros (2), OH Hawegen (7), MB Fangdu (11), OP N'Jaie (11), OH Cazout (4), L Juran
Substitutes: L. Giardino, S. Stojljkovic, O. P. Gicquel (2), O. Sheik, O. Lothar (5).
Match Report
First set: Sato serves and attacks for eight points, Japan comes from behind to take the set
Japan's attack mistakes and OH Cazout's spikes gave France a big lead at 0-5. However, OH Sato's service ace made it 5-8, and OP Wada's service ace made it 12-14, and Japan gradually closed the gap. After that, MB Fangdu's block put France at 16-19 again, but OH Sato scored consecutive attacks from the rally, and Japan turned the game around at 23-22 in the final stages. Finally, OH Sato's spike and MB Shimamura's block were successful in succession, and Japan took the lead 25-23.
Second set: Japan breaks consecutively from Wada's serve, Shimamura blocks three times
Japan took the lead 6-3 early on with a service ace from OH Sato. France narrowed the gap to 10-9 with spikes from OP Njaie, but Japan soon scored consecutive breaks with a strong serve from OP Wada, blocks from MB Shimamura, and spikes from OH Sato, widening the gap to 15-9. After that, OH Ishikawa and OH Sato continued to score points to make it 24-16, and finally OP Akimoto, who came in as a substitute, scored a spike to win the set 25-16.
Third set: Sato and Wada serve to bring momentum back to Japan
Right from the start, Japan broke with a serve from OH Ishikawa. France continued to make attack mistakes, and Japan took a 5-1 lead. From there, France tied the score at 8-8 with a service ace from MB Fangdu and a spike from OH Lothar. Japan was then caught by Bruns' block three times, and France turned the game around to 10-13. However, with a spike from OH Sato and a service ace from OP Wada, Japan took the lead again at 16-14, and then Japan scored four consecutive breaks, including an ace, from OH Sato's serve to extend the lead to 21-16. Finally, MB Miyabe scored a spike to win the set 25-19, and Japan won 3-0.
Match stats▼
https://vnlw.volleystation.com/en/phase-3451-vnl-2025-women/matches/2227563
personal MVP
Yoshino Sato
Outside hitter
19 points (16 attack, 3 serve), attack efficiency rate 291 TP 3T
Today's best scorer. He scored a lot of points with his powerful spikes and serves, and contributed greatly to the team's straight-set victory in the first match in his hometown of Chiba. Wada's attacks were not in good form in this match, but Sato's performance was very good, even including that. Sato himself also struggled at times with his attacks not landing and being blocked, but he managed to score spikes in all the important moments. His hybrid serve and serve are as fast and varied as ever, and his defense was very stable.
Juliette Juran
Libero
Serve reception success rate 74%, 12 digs
France's guardian angel who blocked Japan's attacks many times. He supported France's side-outs with a high success rate of serve reception, and made 12 digs, the same as Japan's libero Kojima, and did not allow Japan to easily score attacks. His ability to compete with Japan's Fukudome for the starting position in Italy was not just for show. Also, his arm muscles are too cool.
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Qualifying Round Rankings
As of 23:30 on Wednesday, July 9th
1 Poland 8 wins, 1 loss, 24 points, 26/9 sets ★
2 Brazil 8 wins, 1 loss, 23 points, 24/8 sets
3 Italy 8 wins 0 losses 22 points 24/5 sets
4 Japan 7 wins, 2 losses, 21 points, 24/8 sets
5 Türkiye 7 wins, 1 loss, 19 points, 22/8 sets
6 China 5 wins, 3 losses, 15 points, 18/13 sets
7 Germany 4 wins, 4 losses, 14 points, 18/16 sets
8 USA 4 wins, 4 losses, 11 points, 15/16 sets
9 Czech Republic 4 wins, 5 losses, 10 points, 15/19 sets
10 Dominican Republic 4 wins, 4 losses, 9 points, 13/18 sets
11 Netherlands 3 wins, 5 losses, 10 points, 13/18 sets
12 France 3 wins, 6 losses, 10 points, 15/21 set
13 Bulgaria 3 wins, 6 losses, 9 points, 15/23 sets
14 Belgium 3 wins, 5 losses, 8 points, 11/19 set
15 Canada 2 wins, 6 losses, 6 points, 11/22 set
16 Serbia 1 win, 8 losses, 8 points, 15/25 sets
17 Thailand 1 win 7 losses 5 points 8/22 set
18 South Korea 1 win, 8 losses, 4 points 9/26 set
Next race information
July 10th (Thu) 19:20～ vs Korea
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Photo: FIVB
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