The match between the Japanese men's volleyball team and the United States in the preliminary pool C of the Paris Olympics will start at 4am on Saturday, August 3rd (Japan time). This is an important match for Japan to advance to the quarterfinals.
In this article, we will introduce the American team and provide an overview and highlights of the match.
American Contestant
Director: John Sparrow
*1 Matthew Anderson OP/OH 1987 208cm Zirrat Bankkart (Türkiye)
*2 Aaron Russell OH 1993 205cm Zawiercie (Poland)
*4 Jeffrey Gendrick MB 1995 208cm ?
*8 Torey Defalco OH 1997 198cm JTEKT STINGS
11 Micah Christenson (C) S 1993 198 Kazan (Russia)
12 Maxwell Holt MB 1987 205cm Beijing (China)
14. Maika Marr S 1997 192cm Halkbank (Türkiye)
17 Thomas Jeske OH 1993 198cm Osaka Bulletion
18 Garret Muagtutia OH 1988 195cm Spor Toto Spor Kulübü (Türkiye)
19 Taylor Avril MB 1992 195cm Monza (Italy)
20 David Smith MB 1985 202cm Kędzierzyn-Koźle (Poland)
22 Eric Shoji L 1989 184cm Kędzierzyn-Koźle (Poland)
Reserve
*5 Kyle Ensin OP 1997 201cm Zawiercie (Poland)
Characteristics of the American team
①Serve & Block
The US is a team with a very strong serve and block.
In terms of serves, he has been prolific, scoring a total of 19 aces in the two matches against Argentina and Germany, averaging 2.37 per set. The team leader is OH Defalco with six aces, but all six starters have already scored at least one ace.
In terms of blocks, they also recorded 14 block points in two matches, averaging 1.75 block points per set. Their blocks are also very high-level, systematic lead blocks, and they have a lot of block touches as well as direct points.
The Americans' ability to break serve and block is an amazement to any team.
②High offensive power in every position
Not only are the three players on the wings able to score in a balanced way, but the two middle blockers also have an extremely high success rate in attacks, meaning that the United States has the ability to score from anywhere.
What makes this possible is, of course, the high ability of each attacker, but also the technique and aggressive tossing of setter Christenson, who has been active for many years in top clubs in Italy and Russia. He also aggressively attacks whenever he gets the chance.
Additionally, the United States uses a so-called 3OH system in which opposite Anderson also rotates to receive serves, meaning there are many attacking variations that can make things tricky.
3) High level of experience
Not only is the average age of the 13 Japanese players 27 years old compared to 32 years old for the American players, but all of them have experience playing in Europe's top leagues.
OP Anderson and MB Smith will be competing in their fourth Olympic Games, while four other players will be competing for their third time, and seven members of the 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medal team remain.
Among the predicted starting members, OP Anderson and MB Holt are the oldest at 37 years old (the same age as Japan's S Fukatsu), which is a big difference compared to the oldest members of Japan's starting lineup, S Sekita and MB Yamauchi, who are 30 years old.
On the other hand, the youngest player on the court for the United States is 27-year-old OH DeFalco (Japan's is 22-year-old OH Takahashi Ai), and in the sense that they do not have young players, it could be said that they are somewhat lacking in explosiveness and motivation.
Featured Players
OH Aaron Russell
Born in 1993, 205cm, Affiliation: Zawiercie (Poland)
An outside hitter who played for the Japanese team JT Thunders Hiroshima until last season. He was unable to play in this year's Nations League due to injury, but he is aiming for Paris and playing as a starter. In the two games so far, he has had the most stable attacking effectiveness rate out of the three side attackers, making him a reliable member of the team. He also has a very strong serve and very stable serve receive. As a player who knows Japan well, he will be a nuisance in the game.
Recent Matches
Nations League 2024 Qualifying Round (June 23, 2024)
○3-0(25-20, 25-23, 25-19)
Paris Olympic Qualifiers (October 8, 2023)
●2-3 (19-25, 25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 12-15)
Nations League 2022 Qualifying Round (June 10, 2022)
●2-3(25-17, 15-25, 21-25, 28-26, 9-15)
*The last three matches were not played with either team's full lineup, so this information is not very useful.
Projected starting lineup
Positions: OH = Outside Hitter, MB = Middle Blocker, OP = Opposite, S = Setter, L = Libero
Japan
OH: Ai Takahashi, Ishikawa
MB: Onodera, Yamauchi
OP: Nishida
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
Average height (excluding libero): 190.83cm
America
OH: Russell, Defalco
MB: Holt, Avril
OP: Anderson
S: Christenson
L: Shoji
Average height (excluding libero): 201.5cm
The key to Japan's victory
Win the serve battle!
As mentioned above, the US is a team with a very strong serve, but Japan also has a strong serve. The key to this match will be whether Japan can attack with their serves more than their opponents and break down the US.
In fact, Germany continued to serve aggressively until the end, and was able to take the match against the United States to a full set.
In terms of pure serving ability alone, America may have a slight advantage, but on the other hand, I think Japan is better at receiving serves.
Therefore, in addition to attacking with serves, they want to make sure to touch the opponent's serves and not allow them to get a service ace even if they are thrown off balance. No matter how strong a serve is, if they can just lift it up, Japan should be able to convert it into a point.
If Japan can win even one set in the next match against the United States, they will advance to the quarterfinals regardless of the results of other matches. They want to win at least one set here and move on to the next stage.
To do this, the key is to endure serve reception and then attack with the serve to win.
Key player in the match against America
OH Ishikawa Yuki
Born in 1995, 191cm, Affiliation: Perugia (Italy)
In the Nations League where they won the silver medal, OH Ishikawa's serving was outstanding, but in the two games at the Paris Olympics, they did not perform as well as they should, such as scoring service aces at key moments. In the match against the United States, the contribution of OH Ishikawa's serving will be necessary in addition to OP Nishida and OH Takahashi Ai.
In terms of serve reception, OH Ishikawa is expected to be the target of the opponent's serves, so it will be important to see how much he can withstand in serve reception. Another point is whether he can respond well to serves that are hit between players, as he himself said before the tournament.
As for OH Ishikawa, he hasn't been able to show good numbers in the last two matches. I hope that in the next match against the United States, he will be able to advance to the quarterfinals and get a chance to do so.
Pool C standings (as of July 31st)
1st Place: USA ★ 2 wins, 0 losses, 5 points
2nd place Japan 1 win, 1 loss, 4 points
3rd place Germany 1 win, 1 loss, 3 points
4th Argentina 0 wins, 2 losses, 0 points
★Quarterfinal advancement confirmed
Trivia
Teammates
- Ishikawa and Shoji (Latina (Italy) 2017/18)
- Ishikawa and Jeski (Milan (Italy) 2021/22)
- Onodera and Russell (JT Thunders Hiroshima 2022/23)
- Nishida, Otsuka, Yamauchi, Yamamoto and Jesky (Osaka Bulletion 2023/24~)
- Tomita and Jesky (Osaka Brutheon 2024/2025~)
- Miyaura, Sekita and Defalco (JTEKT STINGS 2024/25)
Related Interviews
Match Information
Qualifying Pool C vs USA
Saturday, August 3rd, 4:00am (Japan time)
tv set
NHK General TV: 3:50~ (Educational TV: 6:00~)
Online distribution
NHK Plus
Japan men's upcoming match schedule
*Times are Japan time
Final Tournament
Monday, August 5th Time TBD Quarterfinals
Wednesday, August 7th (time TBA) Semi-finals
Friday, August 9th 23:00~ 3rd place deciding match
August 10th (Sat) 20:00~ Finals
[PR] "ALL for DREAM -Footsteps to Glory- Japan Volleyball National Team Nations League 2024" will be available on U-NEXT from July 27th (Sat.)
A documentary program that closely follows the unknown behind-the-scenes of the "Volleyball Nations League 2024" and traces the fierce battles will be streamed on U-NEXT.
[Distribution date and time]
July 27th (Saturday) 5pm Boys #1 Boys #2
August 3rd (Saturday) 5pm Women's #1
Saturday, August 10th 5pm Women's #2
Saturday, August 24th 5pm Men's #3
Saturday, August 31st 5pm Women's #3
September 7th (Saturday) 5pm Men's #4
Saturday, September 14th 5pm Women's #4
(Quoted from TBS TV release)
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Photo: Volleyball World
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