藍が離脱してから石川祐希の凄みが増している（VNL準々決勝カナダ戦）

The Men's Volleyball Nations League 2024 has advanced to the final round with the top eight teams from the preliminary round.

Japan played their first match yesterday and defeated Canada, who they had lost to 2-3 in the preliminary round, 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 26-24), advancing to the semi-finals for the second consecutive year.

For detailed match stats,Here

Although Japan won in straight sets, all but the second set were close matches that went to deuce, and in the third set in particular, Japan was trailing Canada until the end before finally making a comeback.

In the preliminary round, which Japan lost in a full set, the main reasons for the loss were that Canada's overhands, Maher and Lebke, had a high success rate in attacks, and Japan's attacks were thwarted by Canada's blocks.

However, in this match, Japan's serve was strong, and from there, L Yamamoto and others connected with digs to keep the attack efficiency of OH Marr and OH Lepke low. In the preliminaries, their numbers were 491 TP3T and 501 TP3T, respectively, but in the quarterfinals, they reduced them to 331 TP3T and 41 TP3T.

And when it comes to scoring, Ishikawa Yuki is simply unrivaled.

OH Ishikawa scored 26 points, enough for one set.

Perhaps due to being hit in the face by a spine from OP Schwartz early on, he lost some points on spikes in the first set, but he still managed to score six points in attacks, two service aces and two block points each.

In particular, the service ace that earned the set point was a no-touch ace that pierced the court. After getting the set point first, Canada was caught up in the tie, and it looked like they were going to turn the tide a little, but they completely cut it off.

I was shaking.

In the second set, thanks to the efforts of OH Otsuka, who replaced OH Ai, the number of spikes decreased, but the success rate was 1001 TP 3 T.

In the third set, when the other two side attackers failed to score, he stepped up his game again and scored 12 points.

An angry spike and a service ace after a near-miscall by the referee (lol).

Canada was leading until the end of the set, but Japan shut out OP Schwartz, who was in top form in the set, to turn the game around and take the lead at 24-23, taking the first match point. Japan then continued to score spikes to lead the team to victory.

Yuki Ishikawa's performance in terms of numbers was impressive, but his spirit was also amazing. His spirit was palpable through the screen during the Philippines round, especially during the match against France, but when I saw him in person, I could see that aura.

In particular, since Ai was benched due to the aftereffects of an injury he sustained in the Italian league, the burden on him both offensively and defensively has increased somewhat, but perhaps because he has turned that into energy, it feels like Ishikawa's presence and awesomeness have increased.

I feel like this player has no limits and is constantly evolving. I'm sure he can lead the team to even greater heights.

In addition, OH Otsuka played a major role in both offense and defense, as well as in serving. It would be better if his attack numbers could be more stable throughout the match. However, I think his cheerful personality also has a positive effect on the court.

In the middle, MB Onodera had a strong presence with his high attack efficiency and serve. It was his serve that led to the comeback in the third set.

MB Yamauchi's attacks were poor but he contributed with blocks.

S Sekita and L Yamamoto go without saying.

However, OP Nishida is not in good form. He was in good form throughout the qualifying rounds, so I am a bit worried that he was substituted in the middle of the match, just like in the last match and the match against France. As Nishida himself said, he was traumatized by last year's semi-final in the VNL... (laughs).

Still, it's good to know that Miyaura will be in the OP. Of course, I hope he will do his best.

The next semi-final opponent will be the winner of the Slovenia vs. Argentina match. From here on out, it will be a tough match no matter who they face. However, Slovenia has OH Mojic back in the final round, so with the momentum of the qualifiers, they are likely to be a tougher opponent.

But if that happens, just like last year, Polish fans who dislike Slovenia, who were strong against Poland, will come and support Japan and it will feel like home (laughs).

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next one!