In the Fukuoka round of the third week of the Volleyball Nations League 2024 Women's Tournament, the Japanese national team played against Canada on Thursday, June 13th local time and lost 2-3 (25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 21-25, 14-16).
Starting members
Japan
OH: Koga (20), Ishikawa (9)
MB: Yamada (5), Araki (6)
OP: Hayashi (13)
S: Iwasaki (3)
L: Kojima, Fukudome
Substitutes: OH Inoue (13), MB Miyabe (8), S Seki (1), OP Wada (1), MB Watanabe, OP Kurogo
Canada
OH: Gray (30), Johnson (7)
MB: White (7), Mario (5)
OP: Vanlike (27)
S: Brie (7)
L: Joest
Substitutes: S Baker (1), L Mooman
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
※ () indicates score
TOSHIKI'S MVP
OP Kiera VanLyk
27 points (including 3 blocks), attack efficiency rate 431 TP 3T
In addition to scoring a lot of points with his powerful spikes, he also recorded three points and four touches in blocks, constantly putting pressure on Japan's left attack. He also showed off his defense in the backcourt by collecting 15 attacks in digs, second only to the libero.
Match commentary
It was a game in which Japan was gradually defeated by Canada's organized tactics.
The early stages of the match were dominated by Japan.
In the first set, OH Ishikawa led the way in scoring, and in the second set, MB Miyabe and OH Koga led the way in scoring, while also successfully reducing the effectiveness of Canada's attacks with effective defense from their serves.
But from then on it was Canada's turn.
From the third set onwards, Canada's blocks started to work. They got many block points and touches, reducing the effectiveness of Japan's side attacks in particular. On the other hand, Japan was unable to respond to Canada's attacks, centered around OP Van Reijk, and lost the set.
In the fourth set, in addition to the flow of the third set, Canada's serve was strong, and the number of Japanese shots in the middle decreased further, and OP Hayashi made a series of attack mistakes and was blocked, so Japan's attacks became more and more biased towards the left. In this way, Canada widened the point difference, and Japan tried to change the flow by changing members, but it did not work and they lost the set.
In the fifth set, Japan led 8-6 with OH Koga's spikes. After that, OH Inoue's spikes led Japan with side-outs and 11-9. However, from here, Canada's blocks were caught in succession and Japan allowed the reversal at 11-12. Finally, OH Johnson's service ace was decided, and Canada came back to win the set at 14-16 and won the match.
Canada's success was due in large part to their two powerful stars, OP Van Reijk and OH Gray, as well as their successful containment of Japan's attacks with organized blocking.
On the other hand, Japan was unable to keep up with Canadian volleyball from the third set onwards.
I've thought this before, but the Japanese women's team is not good at responding to the opponent's response as a team. I don't really understand the intentions of the coach and the bench in such situations.
Japan's chances of qualifying for the Paris Olympics have been put on hold from this match, but Canada and the Netherlands, who are also competing for a spot in the Paris Olympics, will face off today, and it is unlikely that either of these two teams will lose points to Japan from this point onwards, so no matter how the upcoming matches against Serbia and the United States go, Japan will likely be able to participate in the Paris Olympics.
However, with the team in this condition, it is difficult to say that it will be easy to achieve results at the Olympics. It is likely that they will fail to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, just like they did.
To prevent this from happening, I hope they can somehow get some good opportunities in the next two qualifying matches and the VNL final round.
For detailed match stats,Here
Highlight Video
Standings (as of June 13th)
VNL Rankings
1. Brazil 10 wins 28 points ★
2. Poland 8 wins 24 points ★
3. Türkiye 8 wins 24 points ★
4. Italy 7 wins 22 points
5. Japan 7 wins 22 points
6. USA 6 wins 19 points
7. China 6 wins 18 points
8. Canada 6 wins 17 points
9. Netherlands 5 wins 15 points
10. Serbia 3 wins 9 points
11. Dominican Republic 3 wins 9 points
12. Thailand 3 wins 7 points ★
13. Germany 2 wins 6 points
14. South Korea 2 wins 6 points
15. France 1 win 5 points
16. Bulgaria 1 win 3 points
*The top 7 teams and the host country (Thailand) will advance to the final round (June 20-23)
★…Final round advancement confirmed
World Rankings
1. Türkiye 392.17 ☆
2. Brazil 389.13 ☆
3. Poland 366.17 ☆
4. Italy 364.69 ★
5. America 356.08 ☆
6. China 329.55
7. Japan 322.94
8. Serbia 314.63 ☆
9. Netherlands 293.03
10. Canada 290.24
11. Dominican Republic 270.74 ☆
12. Germany 213.09
19 Kenya 162.42 ★ (Top in Africa)
20 France 156.44 ☆
*At the end of the VNL qualifying round, the top three countries, excluding the top Asian team, the top African team, and the team that has already qualified for the Paris Olympics, will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
☆…Host country and countries that have qualified through Olympic qualifiers
★…Qualification for the Paris Olympics confirmed after the VNL qualifying round
Next race information
vs Serbia
June 15th (Sat) 19:20～ (Japan time)
Television broadcast
Terrestrial TBS series (live broadcast from 19:00)
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Online broadcast (LIVE)
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Photo: FIVB
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