In the Men's Qualifying Round of the Volleyball Nations League 2025 (China), the Japanese national team played against China on Wednesday, June 11th (local time) and won 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-22).
Starting Lineup
Japan
OH Tomita (11), MB Rally (6), S Oya, OH Otsuka (10), MB Murayama (9), OP Miyaura (13), L Ogawa
Substitutes: OH Kai (2), OP Takahashi Kei
China
S Yu, OH Wang (6), MB Peng (5), OP Jiang (9), OH Yu (9), MB Li (7), L Song
Substitute: OP On (5), S King, OH Ki (3)
Battle Review
First set: Japan struggles but holds on with Miyaura at the helm
From the beginning, Japan's spikes were blocked by China's blocks and did not go in as expected, but China's mistakes and OP Miyaura's spikes put Japan ahead at 5-3. China's OP Jiang and OH Wang made attacks with high decisiveness to tie the score at 9-9, but Japan could not allow the comeback due to OH Otsuka's service ace, OP Miyaura's spike, and China's mistakes. After that, OH Otsuka scored a second service ace to make it 20-17, and OH Otsuka scored another spike at the end to give Japan the lead at 25-23.
Second set: consecutive breaks from Oya's serve
A service ace from OH Tomita put Japan ahead at 3-0. China tied the score at 5-5 with a spike from MB Li, but a block from MB Murayama put Japan back in the lead at 8-5. China tied the score again, but an ace from MB Larry made it 13-11. OH Otsuka and MB Murayama scored points from S Oya's serve, breaking five times in a row and widening the gap to 19-12. Japan continued to lead, and finally a service ace from relief server OH Kai and a direct return from that ball were smashed in by MB Larry to win the set 25-14.
Third set: China's own mistakes cause them to collapse
China started by replacing three players. In the early stages, Japan scored points from OH Tomita and China from MB Peng, and the match continued with the score at 9-9. From there, China broke from OH Ji's serve to take a two-point lead at 9-11, and Japan then started to follow. However, Japan was tied again at 16-16 due to a Chinese mistake, and then a Chinese mistake and a service ace from OH Tomita led to a sudden reversal at 19-16. In the final stages, OH Kai, who entered the match as a substitute, spiked to put Japan on match point at 24-20. After that, OH Yu scored a service ace to make it 24-22, but in the end, OH Tomita scored a spike to win the set and win 25-22.
Match stats▼
https://vnlm.volleystation.com/en/matches/2227600/?stats_team=away
personal MVP
S. Maki Oya
No points, team attack effectiveness 43%
In the first set, the team's attackers did not mesh well, and the overall attack success rate was low. However, from the end of the first set, they corrected themselves, and while making good use of attacks from the middle, they showed a variety of toss work that did not allow the opponent to focus on one target. In particular, in the second set, they had a team attack success rate of 701 TP3T, and they also had five consecutive breaks with their own serves, making their performance stand out. With the absence of regular setter Sekita, it will be exciting to see how much they can appeal from here.
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Qualifying Round Rankings
As of 20:00 on Wednesday, June 11
| Ranking | Country | Number of wins | point | Set rate | Scoring percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 1 | 3 | MAX | 1.271 |
| 2 | Poland | 1 | 3 | 3.000 | 1.065 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.938 |
| 4 | China | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.786 |
| Argentina | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Brazil | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Canada | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| France | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Germany | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Iran | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Italy | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Slovenia | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Serbia | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Türkiye | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Ukraine | 0 | 0 | - | - | |
| America | 0 | 0 | - | - |
Next race information
June 12th (Thu) 21:30～ vs Poland
How to watch
Here's how to watch VNL2025:
Related links
Photo: FIVB
English 
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