The quarterfinals of the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Championship (World Volleyball) were held on Wednesday, September 3rd, and Japan defeated the Netherlands 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12) to advance to the semifinals for the first time in 15 years.
After the match, Volleyball World interviewed Ferhat Akbaş, head coach of the Japanese women's national volleyball team.
When asked, "How are you feeling?", Coach Akbash replied,
"I feel great. Today was a historic day for Japan, as we made it into the top four (at the World Championships) for the first time in 15 years. With that in mind, we felt a lot of pressure at the beginning of the match and the players weren't in a good mood, but we later regained our rhythm and fought until the end. I think it was a great win."
"When I found out we were going to play against the Netherlands, I said, 'It's going to be a very, very difficult game,' but people said, 'It won't be that way (Japan will win easily)'. But it turned out to be a great game. Today the Dutch team pushed their limits and showed us the kind of defense we have. I think it was a great game for both teams. But today we were just luckier."
He commented.
When asked about Ishikawa Mayu's contribution towards the end of the game,
"After we were down (1-2 in sets), we switched positions. Mayu started in the front court, where she showed great leadership. I'm grateful to her, and I'd like to thank all our players, including Miiku (Iwasawa), who showed miraculous defense in the back court. So I'd like to thank and congratulate all our players, staff and all the people of Japan."
He commented:
In this game, too, Coach Akbaş's tactics, specific instructions during timeouts, and passionate actions during play shone through in every scene.
The semi-final will be against the winner of the USA vs. Türkiye match on Saturday, September 6th at 5:00 PM.
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Photo: Volleyball World
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