日本、大逆転でドミニカを撃破しパリ五輪出場へまた大きく前進【バレーボールネーションズリーグ女子】

Japan defeats Dominica in a major comeback, taking another big step towards qualifying for the Paris Olympics [Women's Volleyball Nations League]

June 3, 2024 October 5, 2024

In the second week of the Macau round of the Volleyball Nations League 2024 Women's Tournament, the Japanese national team played against the Dominican Republic on Saturday, June 1st (local time) and won 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 26-24, 25-23).

Starting members

Japan

OH: Koga (19), Inoue
MB: Yamada (10), Araki (5)
OP: Hayashi (15)
S: Iwasaki (5)
L: Kojima, Fukudome

Substitutes: OH Ishikawa (15), OP Wada (7), MB Watanabe, S Matsui, MB Miyabe, OP Kurogo

dominican republic

OH: Guillen (16), Isabel (16)
MB: Gonzalez (3), Martinez (6)
OP: Gonzales (25)
S: Marte
L: Rodriguez

Substitutes: MB Eve (5), MB Arias, S Rodriguez, OP Tapia.

*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero

※ () indicates score

TOSHIKI'S MVP

OP Kotona Hayashi

15 points (2 serves, 1 block), attack efficiency rate 331 TP 3T

She tied for second on the team with 15 points. She struggled with her attacks in the first set, but maintained a high attacking effectiveness rate from the second set onwards. In addition to her strong serve reception and digs, she also showed her presence with blocks (1 point, 4 touches) and serves (2 aces).

Her service aces also played a key role in the comeback in the fourth set.

Match commentary

The match showed Japan never giving up until the very end.

In the first set, the team broke down the opponents with serves from S Iwasaki and MB Yamada, and with counterattacks led by OH Koga, they continued to score points and maintained their lead to take the first set.

However, in the second set, they struggled with the highly decisive attacks of the two Dominican outside hitters and allowed the lead to slip away from the middle of the set. In the final stages, they were down 6 points at 17-23, but with OH Koga's spikes they came within 1 point at 23-24, but they couldn't get the last point and lost 23-25.

In the third set, MB Yamada's spikes and other attacks led them to a 5-point lead at 20-15 in the middle of the game, but then Dominica's serve and OH Isabel's spikes caught up with them at 23-23. However, in the end, OP Hayashi and OH Koga scored consecutive spikes to take the set at 26-24.

In the fourth set, Japan's OH Ishikawa and OH Koga's spikes were not decided, while Dominican OP Gonzalez's spikes were not stopped, and Dominican Republic took a maximum 8-point lead at 5-13. After that, the game continued with Dominican Republic's big lead at 9-16.

However, Japan gradually broke through with blocks from MB Yamada and service aces from OH Hayashi, closing in on a two-point lead at 17-19. After that, OP Gonzalez's spikes widened the gap to 18-22, but from there, S Iwasaki's two attacks and the opponent's attack mistakes tied the score at 22-22, and then OH Ishikawa's spike and the opponent's attack mistakes gave Japan a set point at 24-23.

Finally, after a great serve from S Iwasaki, OH Ishikawa blocked OP Gonzalez to make it 25-23, and Japan made a huge comeback to take the set and win 3-1.

The Dominican Republic was left crying over their own mistakes at the end. They hadn't made many mistakes in their attacks up until that point, but making mistakes in such important situations must have been largely down to their mental state.

On the other hand, even though Japan fell behind in the fourth set, they remained very focused, and I think they were able to switch gears well by switching back to S. Iwasaki as setter.

This means that only four games remain in the VNL qualifying round in Kitakyushu.

There is still one match left against South Korea, whose strength has weakened dramatically since Kim Yeon-kyung's retirement from the national team, so if things continue as they are, Japan could secure a place in the Paris Olympics before the final day.

For detailed match stats,Here