⑭ vs Slovenia ●0-3(16-25, 16-25, 26-28)
Milan showdown
First set starting lineup (serving order)
Japan
OH14 Ishikawa, MB6 Lee, OP1 Shimizu, OH21 Takanashi, MB2 Yamauchi, S12 Sekita, L20 Yamamoto
Poland
MB4 Kozamelnik, S16 Lopret, OH17 Urnalt, MB2 Pajenc, OP1 Stern, OH18 Cebuj, L13 Kovacic
Slovenia, who has been in good form in this tournament, having defeated Poland and France, will advance to the semi-finals if they win two sets in this match. I thought it would be tough to win, but I remembered the match in 2017 when Japan beat Slovenia without Ishikawa in the World League, so I thought they would somehow put up a good fight, but when the match started, Slovenia was one or two steps ahead of them.
From the beginning of the first set, Japan struggled with Slovenia's serves and was unable to score side-outs. All Slovenian players were serving well in this match, while Japan struggled with serve reception in each rotation. When the score was 4-10 with a service ace from the opponent's middle player Pajenc, Fukuzawa was brought in to replace Takanashi to strengthen serve reception, but the opponent's serves continued to be superior, and Ishikawa was unable to score a single point. On the other hand, Japan was unable to break down the opponent with their serves and was unable to get into a good flow, and in the end Fukuzawa's spike was shut out and Slovenia took the first set 16-25.
In the second set, Japan replaced Oya as setter, Ogawa as libero, and Takanashi and Otsuka as outside players. In the early stages, Japan showed a close match, taking long rallies, but just like in the first set, Slovenia's Pajenc's serve disrupted their reception, allowing consecutive breaks and widening the score difference to 4-8. After that, Slovenia continued to score side-outs on the outside, mainly through Urnarto, who was also paired with Ishikawa in Milan, and the opposite Štan, and they did not allow Japan's side-outs to be taken easily with their serves and blocks. From Slovenia's perspective, it was an ideal development. For Japan, it was hell. Japan was helpless, and in the end, the opponent's ace Cheby's pipe attack made the score 16-25, and Slovenia easily took the second set.
The key to offense and defense, Ulnart. A must-have for every household.
The third set. Having qualified for the finals, Slovenia took off Cebuj and Pajenc. Perhaps Slovenia had let their nerves drop a little. Japan did not miss this opportunity. Otsuka's spike scored the first point, and Li's service ace also came out, giving Japan the lead for the first time that day at 8-5, and the technical timeout came. After that, Japan struggled with the serve of the opposing setter Lopret in the S1 rotation, and was tied at 10-10, but Ogawa's good digs and Takanashi's spike points from a high set continued to play well, and they competed with Slovenia. Takanashi got a service ace and took the lead at 20-17, and I thought they could keep going with this set. Takanashi's "Nugapet" was also amazing. I think Takanashi was the one who made the biggest impression in this tournament. He's doing a great job! However, Takahashi Ai made a regrettable spike mistake at 23-22. After the score was 23-23, they fought over side outs. Still, Slovenia seems to have a "winner's mentality" after all. They kept their concentration until the end and kept attacking, shutting out Shimizu's spikes and taking the set 26-28, while Japan lost in straight sets.
Anyway, Slovenia had a strong serve. We struggled with the opponent's serve in the match against Canada, but I got the impression that all the players in Slovenia were hitting even stronger serves. This match really made me realize that serve and serve reception are really important in modern volleyball. Japan may have been successful in reducing the number of attacks by the opponent's ace, Cheby, but the other players, Urnart and Stern, were in good form and were not able to achieve much.
And Fukuzawa. Unfortunately, he was not included in the list of the 12 players who were announced the day before for the Tokyo Olympics, so I think this will probably be his last match for the Japanese national team. He came on in the middle of the game and was able to handle the opponent's serve with his specialty overhand, which was good, but he was blocked a lot and made some pass mistakes, so he wasn't able to change the flow of the team. Well, if he was a player who could perform like that here, he probably wouldn't have been eliminated. But I wish he had done something good at least at the end. I'm sure it must be frustrating for him.
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