In the final round of the 2024 Women's Volleyball Nations League (Thailand), the Japanese national team faced China in the quarterfinals on Thursday, June 20th local time and won 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-22).
Starting members
Japan
OH: Koga (22), Ishikawa (14)
MB: Yamada (6), Araki (4)
OP: Hayashi (6)
S: Iwasaki (3)
L: Fukudome
Substitutes: MB Miyabe (4), MB Watanabe (1), OP Kurogo
China
OH: Chang (11), Juan (12)
MB: Yang (9), Gao (6)
OP: John (4)
S: Ding (4)
L: Knee
Substitute: OH One
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
※ () indicates score
TOSHIKI'S MVP
OH Koga Sarina
22 points (1 on serve), attack efficiency rate 331 TP 3T
The captain led his team to victory with 22 points, the most of both teams. Although he made some noticeable mistakes in attacks in the early stages, he improved his form in the second half, and in the third set, he made difficult shots with an astonishing attack efficiency rate of 541 TP3T.
He also contributed greatly to the victory with his serve, scoring a decisive service ace in the second set that sealed the outcome of the set.
However, I am concerned about the taping on his shoulder, so I hope he doesn't push himself too hard in preparation for the Paris Olympics.
Match commentary
Japan won the match by serving, just like they did in their qualifying victory.
Japan scored seven service aces against China, mainly with serves to the back of the court, and S Iwasaki, OH Ishikawa, and MB Yamada all contributed to Japan's consecutive points with particularly high break rates.
MB Miyabe, who played as a relief server in the middle of the second set, changed the flow of the game with four consecutive breaks, including one service ace.
On the offensive side, Japan struggled with China's high blocks, allowing a total of 10 blocks and 17 touches in the three sets. However, Japan's serves were more effective than that, and they were able to keep China's attack efficiency lower than Japan's by connecting with digs.
OH Koga scored 22 points and OH Ishikawa scored 14 points, leading the team, but it is a little worrisome that the points were too heavily weighted towards these two (especially Koga). In the next match against Brazil, players in other positions will need to stand out more in attack.
China PR changed their lineup from the qualifying round, removing the starters from the qualifiers and playing mainly with reserves in this quarterfinal. Perhaps due to the difference in match experience up to this point, they seemed to make quite a few simple mistakes.
Japan's starting lineup was almost the same as in the qualifying round, with the only difference being the libero.
In the qualifying rounds, the so-called switch libero system was used, with L. Kojima on side outs (serve receives) and L. Fukudome on the break (serve), but in this match L. Fukudome was the only one to handle both roles.
Probably because only one libero can be selected in the actual Olympics, this was the selection in mind. However, even though he had not received serves in the game up to this point, I thought L. Fukudome's serve reception was very good, and as for digs, he picked up many powerful hits that seemed to be "settled!", as expected.
Our semi-final opponent, Brazil, is the team we lost to in a full set in the qualifying round. The next match will no doubt be tough, but I hope they do their best as we are also going to face them in the qualifying rounds at the Paris Olympics.
However, even if they lose in the semi-finals, there will be a match to decide third place. If they win a medal, it will be their first time in 10 years since the silver medal at the 2014 World Grand Prix in a major world tournament. I hope they can win a medal, no matter what color it is, and use it to boost their confidence and get a boost for the Paris Olympics.
For detailed match stats,Here
Highlight Video
Next race information
Semi-final: vs Brazil
June 22nd (Sat) 22:30～ (Japan time)
Television broadcast
BS-TBS (Broadcast time TBA (Will it be live after the boys?))
TBS Nations League special site (you can check the TV broadcast schedule, etc.):https://www.tbs.co.jp/volley-nationsleague/
Online broadcast (LIVE)
①VBTV (English, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
②U-NEXT (Japanese, paid)
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Photo: FIVB
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