⑮ vs USA ●0-3(21-25, 23-25, 20-25)
Nishida is stopped by Defalco's block.
First set starting lineup (serving order)
Japan
OH21 Takahashi Ai, MB2 Onodera, S12 Sekita, OH14 Ishikawa, MB6 Yamauchi, OP11 Nishida, L Yamamoto
America
OH18 Muagtutier, MB12 Holt, S11 Christenson, OH8 Defalco, MB20 Smith, OP1 Anderson, L22 Shoji
On the final day of the VNL2021 qualifying round, both Japan and the United States had already lost their chances of advancing to the finals, so this was the last match of the tournament for both teams. Nishida made his second start for Japan. Just like in the match against Bulgaria, I thought Nishida's left arm would be on fire again that day, but the high wall of the USA was waiting for him.
In the first set, Ishikawa succeeded in taking the lead with a feint, but Nishida, who followed, was immediately baptized by the American block. Nevertheless, with consecutive breaks, including an ace, Ishikawa's serve gave Japan a big lead of 8-4. Nishida's spike finally went in. However, the opposing setter Kristengson, who is right-handed, made a powerful left-handed two-attack, and Takahashi Ai was stopped by the opponent's high and fast block, and the score difference gradually narrowed. Japan also got a side out with Yamauchi's quick, but they were caught up at 15-15. After that, they tried to escape by making two substitutions (Fujii, it's been a while!), but this time Kristengson's serve showed its fangs, and the United States succeeded in turning the game around at 18-20 in the final stages. In the end, Ishikawa's spike was blocked and the first set was lost 21-25. It seemed like Japan's serves were going to the libero Shoji a lot, but what was the intention behind it?
Christenson scored five points despite being the setter.
The second set continued. Ishikawa's push made it 2-0, but Nishida was stopped again, making it 2-2. From there, Holt's powerful serve from the middle broke Japan's serve reception, and the United States widened the gap to 4-7. Christenson's setup with a two-fake almost fooled us (lol). Wanting to change the flow, Japan brought in setter Fujii. It worked, as Onodera's blocks and others came out to tie the score at 9-9, and it became a see-saw game from there. The United States scored points with strong hits from Anderson and Defalco, but Japan also held on with Takahashi Ai's sharp straight hits, Yamauchi's quick hits from Fujii's aggressive toss from a distance, and Takahashi Ai's service aces. After that, Ishikawa's soft hits and pipe attacks from the rally seemed to have led to 23-21, but Nishida was once again caught by the United States' blocks at this important stage. And at the end, Christenson's service ace made it 23-25, and Japan lost this set. The concentration of the Americans at the end of this set was amazing.
Fujii started the third set with no way out. From the start, Japan was able to create a good rhythm with Takahashi Ai's serve and Yamamoto's good digs, and succeeded in consecutive breaks at 4-0. But Christenson's serve came again. His serve got them down, and they allowed the opponent to score five consecutive points at 4-5. During this time, Fujii used Onodera's quick many times, but was blocked by the American blacks and digs. Nishida also had a lot of blocks today. Maybe he's not in top form yet. After that, at 9-10, Lee came in to replace Onodera, who had come forward. From there, Ishikawa's pipe and Nishida's powerful spike from a high jump that was so typical of Nishida came out! Nishida's on a roll?! Japan was leading at 16-15 at the second technical timeout. However, America was still strong in the final stages. Anderson's service ace and other efforts led to another comeback at 18-21, but Nishida's serve, which they were relying on, was picked up by libero Shoji, and finally Moagtuti's pipe made it 20-25. Japan lost to the United States in straight sets, and the VNL2021 schedule ended without Japan being able to win the final day of the tournament like they did in the 2019 World Cup.
As was the case with Slovenia yesterday, I think it's great that a setter can serve that hard. Especially when the setter is serving, the opponent also tends to rotate S1, meaning the opposite player will spike from the left and the outside player will spike from the right, so if you can break them down with your serve, it's easier to create a favorable situation for the server. Even so, Christensen is a setter and yet he scores too many points (lol).
Nishida finally seemed to be able to play his usual game in the third set. If he had been able to do this in the first and second sets, the game would have turned out differently, but it can't be helped. However, although there were times in this tournament where he broke down his opponent, it was a bit disappointing that we didn't see any service aces from Nishida.
Three-shot photo with average age 21.6
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