In the Paris Olympic qualifying pool C, the Japanese men's national team played against the United States on Friday, August 2nd (local time) and lost 1-3 (16-25, 18-25, 25-18, 19-25).
However, by winning one set, Japan's set rate exceeded their third-place result in Pool A, and they advanced to the quarterfinals in eighth place overall.
Starting members
Positions: OH = Outside Hitter, MB = Middle Blocker, OP = Opposite, S = Setter, L = Libero
() is the score
Japan
OH: Ai Takahashi (9), Ishikawa (5)
MB: Onodera (2), Yamauchi (7)
OP: Nishida (18)
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
Substitutes: OH Otsuka (6), MB Takahashi Kentaro (6), OP Miyaura (1), S Fukatsu, OH Kai
America
OH: Russell (12), DeFalco (14)
MB: Holt (8), Avril (14)
OP: Anderson (16)
S: Christenson (4)
L: Shoji
Substitutes: OH Jeski (1), OH Muagtutija, MB Smith
Match Report
Set 1
From the beginning, MB Avril's spikes and others put America in the lead at 3-7. After that, OH Defalco's spikes and MB Avril's service aces gave America consecutive points, widening the lead to 12-17. Japan continued to score with OP Nishida, but the other attackers were blocked by the Americans, and OP Nishida was also caught in consecutive blocks, widening the gap to 13-20. Finally, a Japanese serve error made it 16-25, and America took the set.
Set 2
From this set, Japan replaced MB Onodera with MB Takahashi Kentaro. MB Avril made three consecutive blocks to stop OP Nishida and OH Takahashi Ai, and then MB Holt scored a service ace, and the United States took the lead at 0-5 right from the start. MB Takahashi Kentaro's block narrowed the gap to 8-10, but OH Defalco's spikes and other points allowed the United States to score consecutive points, widening the gap again to 9-14. In the middle of the game, Japan continued to rally, and OH Ishikawa and OP Nishida scored points to hang on at 14-17. However, MB Holt's spike and OP Anderson's service ace put the United States in a position to hold the set point at 17-24, but in the end, relief server OH Kai's serve was an error, and the United States took the set at 18-25.
Third set
From this set, Japan replaced OH Ishikawa with OH Otsuka. With OH Otsuka's spikes, Japan was able to get side outs from the beginning, and with MB Yamauchi's blocks, Japan took a 9-6 lead for the first time in the match. Japan's momentum continued, and with OH Takahashi Ai's de facto service ace, pipe attacks, and MB Takahashi Kentaro's blocks, Japan's lead widened to 16-9. The US also broke through with S Christenson's blocks, but in the final stages, OP Nishida made a lot of attacks, and OP Nishida also got a block, putting Japan at 22-14. From there, the US scored three consecutive points with OP Anderson's service ace, but in the end, MB Yamauchi's service ace made it 25-18 and Japan won the set (Japan's advancement to the quarterfinals was decided).
Fourth set
Japan's OP Nishida and USA's OP Anderson scored points and the match progressed to 7-7. From there, USA broke with a block from MB Avril and took a lead of 8-11, but Japan also broke with an attack from OP Nishida and tied the score at 15-15. However, OH Defalco and others scored points from MB Holt's serve, scoring four consecutive points to 15-19, and then MB Avril's block made it 16-21, giving USA a sudden lead. OH Russell scored a spike to end the set at 19-25, and USA took the set.
Although Japan lost 1-3 to the United States, they still advanced to the quarterfinals in third place in Pool C and eighth place overall.
TOSHIKI'S MVP
USA: Taylor Avril
Middle blocker 195cm Affiliation: Monza (Italy)
14 points (1 serve, 6 blocks), attack efficiency rate 87.50%
A middle blocker who gave Japan a hard time with spikes, serves, and blocks. He especially gave the Japanese attackers a hard time with six blocks, and showed great presence with his high decision-making ability along with his counterpart MB Holt in quicks. He also has a bright personality and seems to play the role of a mood maker for the US team. It's really troublesome to have a player like this on the team.
Japan: Nishida Yuji
Opposite 187cm Affiliation: Osaka Bulleteon
18 points (including 1 block), attack efficiency rate 36.111 TP 3T
Even though the team was at a disadvantage, he continued to score alone and continued to inspire the team. He not only scored powerful spikes from high jumps, but also scored with soft hits, once again demonstrating the wide range of his skills. Without his performance, the team would not have been able to advance so quickly in the third set. While captain OH Ishikawa was not in good form, OP Nishida was really leading the team in terms of points. However, his signature serve was not very effective in this match, so I hope he will once again use his serve to wreak havoc in the quarterfinals.
Commentary
The first and second sets were a struggle against the powerful American serve and block.
The first two sets were dominated by the United States, but what kept them going was their serving and blocking.
Although the number of service aces itself was only one per set until the second set, each player continued to deliver very powerful serves, successfully depriving Japan of their attacking options and narrowing down the target of their blocks.
In particular, OH Ishikawa, who is the center of Japan's attack, was targeted with serves, and as OH Ishikawa was unable to respond effectively to those serves, his number of times participating in attacks and his success rate decreased.
Japan was a team that was known for its organized lead block, and as their serves were working as mentioned above, Japan had a hard time getting through America's block.
He was able to get a good touch even against MB Onodera's quick shots, which had been so successful in the Argentina match. Especially in the second set, the United States was in a favorable position with five block points.
On the other hand, Japan's strong serve didn't work, and the Americans' diverse attacks were almost uncontrollable. They were unable to respond to the opponent's quick plays, especially. The Americans' OP Anderson was also able to participate in serve reception in most positions, so they responded to strong servers with four players receiving, which made it difficult to break through.
Regarding the attack, it seemed that there were many instances where they would have tried to hit hard and gotten shut out even in situations where they would have tried to get the rebound without forcing it. However, even in such situations, OP Nishida scored points.
Otsuka was brought in and the third set saw some position changes
From the third set, Coach Blanc replaced the struggling OH Ishikawa with OH Otsuka. He also moved OH Takahashi Ai to position 2 (the position next to the setter in the rotation), which was OH Ishikawa's position, and OH Otsuka to position 5 (the position next to the opposite), which was OH Takahashi Ai's position.
Position 2 has a rotation where the player attacks from the right side only once when receiving the serve, and on the Japanese national team, OH Ishikawa plays this position, taking into consideration the offensive power from the right side.
On the other hand, position 2 is required to receive serves in the middle twice when playing in the back court (position 5 receives serves once), so generally, position 2 is played by a defensive outside hitter.
In this situation, they were being beaten by the American serve, so it seems that in order to stabilize the serve reception, OH Takahashi Ai, who is good at serve reception, was placed in position 2. Although OH Takahashi Ai has always played in position 5 for the Japanese national team, he played in position 2 throughout the season in the Italian league, so he probably had no worries about it.
As a result, Japan's serve reception became stable as planned. OH Takahashi Ai's serve reception increased, and OH Otsuka's individual serve reception was also very good.
OH Otsuka also scored points on the offensive side by aiming for block outs. With the stable serve reception, OH Takahashi Ai's pipe attack, which is her weapon, was also successful. OP Nishida's performance improved further, with an attack success rate of 1001 TP and 3 T.
Japan also improved their serve. Although they only had one ace, from MB Yamauchi who converted the set point, they made fewer serve errors and managed to break down their opponents, reducing the number of shots from the middle.
As a result, the blocking also improved, earning three block points, and the number of attack mistakes by the United States also increased. In particular, the block on MB Holt by MB Yamauchi, who scored the eighth point, was effective.
Also, the introduction of OH Otsuka seemed to bring brightness back to the court. The presence of a player who can change the atmosphere like this, not just play, is a great weapon.
The American serve and block again stood in the way in the fourth set.
The fourth set was also an evenly matched battle until the middle of the match, but from 15-16, Japan was unable to cope with MB Holt's powerful serve and blocks led by MB Avril, and they lost consecutive points. After that, the United States took the set without a break, and the match ended.
As expected, it was the serve and block that saved the United States in the end. Block in particular had been in touch throughout this set, so in that scene, the synergy with MB Holt's serve allowed them to run at full speed.
Japan could have served a little better in this set, or even gotten a service ace, but it was difficult to get an ace against the American four-card receive.
Summary
Although we ended up losing, I think it was great that we were able to take the third set after the first and second sets, when the situation was so hopeless.
Not only did they advance to the quarterfinals on their own, but the experience of overcoming such a one-sided situation will surely be useful for the next stage.
Also, even though he was not in good form, Plan's decision to take off OH Ishikawa, who is the pillar of Japan in both name and reality, was also wonderful. I think it was a very courageous decision, but if OH Ishikawa had continued to play, there is a good chance that we would have lost in straight sets.
With this, they have advanced to the quarterfinals in 8th place overall, so they will face the team ranked 1st overall in the quarterfinals. As of August 3rd, Japan time, the opponent has not yet been decided, and it will be either the United States, Italy, or Poland (depending on the result of the Poland vs. Italy match at 0:00 on the 4th Japan time).
In any case, there are very strong teams, so we cannot win like this. In particular, OH Ishikawa's recovery is essential. I hope to see the captain go wild on the court in the quarterfinals.
Pool C standings (as of August 2nd)
1st Place: USA ★ 3 wins, 0 losses, 8 points
2nd place Germany★ 2 wins, 1 loss, 6 points
3rd place Japan ★ 1 win, 2 losses, 4 points
4th Argentina 0 wins, 2 losses, 0 points
★Quarterfinal advancement confirmed
Next race information
Quarterfinal opponents to be determined
Monday, August 5th Time TBA
tv set
to be decided
Online distribution
to be decided
[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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