Tonight, July 22nd at 1am Japan time, the quarter-finals of the Volleyball Nations League between Japan and France will be held! As this is the first final for Japan since the Nations League began, there are high expectations.
However, yesterday the shocking news was announced that Ishikawa Yuki, the team captain and overwhelming mainstay, would be unable to participate in the tournament due to injury.
Taking this situation into consideration, I would like to provide a quick preview.
Projected starting lineup
Japan
OH: Otsuka, Ai
MB: Yamauchi, Kentaro
OP: Nishida
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
As mentioned at the beginning, Ishikawa will be absent, so we expect the outside hitters to be Otsuka and Ai.
Considering the stability of her serve receive, Ai would be a good choice, but I was unsure between Otsuka and Takanashi. However, I chose Otsuka, hoping for the offensive power she showed in the qualifying match against France. Takanashi also shows high performance even when coming on as a substitute, so I hope she can save us from a pinch as a backup. As for the lineup, I expect Ai to play Ishikawa's original position at number 2, and Otsuka at number 5. However, I'm not confident about this.
I wonder whether the middle position will be played by Onodera or Kentaro, but I'm guessing Kentaro with high hopes.
Onodera has better serves and connections, but I'm looking forward to Kentaro's spikes and blocks. France's mid-range is powerful and has a lot of hits, so I hope they can somehow put pressure on it.
The remaining positions are filled by familiar faces.
France
OH: Nugapet, Klebno
MB: Chinenyedze, Rugoff
OP: Patry
S: Blissard
L: Gurbenikov
It is expected that France will go into the Tokyo Olympic final with the same lineup.
The changes from the members who played in the Philippine round are wing player Nugapet, setter Brizard, and libero Grubenikov, who joined in the final round.
All three are world-class players at their respective positions.
Nugapet, who is well known in Japan, is often known for his tricky plays, but he is also an all-rounder who is skilled both offensively and defensively and has a powerful serve.
Brizard inherited the central setting from his senior Toniutti, but he also takes advantage of his height to block, serve, and attack, scoring points himself. In some games, he even scores double digits despite being a setter (laughs).
Personally, I think Grubenikov is the world's number one active libero. Not to mention his high reception and digging abilities, his overwhelming defensive power keeps putting pressure on the opponent's spiker and inducing mistakes. He's like a real Tezuka Phantom (lol). Also, he's always the first to spike during the French team's warm-up (lol).
Key Points of the Match
①Attacking serves are key to Japan's victory!!
I guess this is the only option.
That's why it's such a blow to lose Ishikawa, who was second in the serve rankings in the qualifiers, but there's no point in thinking about what might have been, so we'll just have to serve boldly on the French court with the members we have now.
However, France is a team with very good defense, so it will be very difficult to break them down head-on with power serves.
Therefore, even though we will be attacking with our serves, I think that players other than Nishida and Ai, in particular, will be required to serve more tactically than before.
In particular, France is a team that often uses attacks from the center area, such as quick and pipe shots. Therefore, even if the serve is returned well, I think it is possible to gradually disrupt the opponent's rhythm by preventing the opponent from joining the attack from the front and back by making them fall or preventing them from taking a run-up.
Or rather, that's all they can do. If they can't keep hitting effective serves, they won't be able to beat the Olympic champion, let alone put up a good fight. That's how strong France is.
Also, don't let the libero Grubenikov do too much work. This is also important. He will definitely miss the serve unless he has a strong intention!
② Put pressure on the opponent's middle shot with a block!!
France takes a lot of shots from the middle, so I would like to put pressure on them with blocks and create more situations where they cannot hit comfortably.
However, dealing with attacks from the middle of the opponents is a major challenge for Japan's middle blockers, so it will be quite tough, but I hope they can somehow get as many touches as possible.
Of course I want to see Shutt too! (laughs)
3. Don’t rush into the attack
Both Japan and France are good defensive teams, so we can expect some long rallies.
If you rush the attack, you will be out or shut out, so it will be important to avoid forcing an attack and instead make good use of rebounds and other techniques to develop rallies to your advantage.
I think Ishikawa was very good at this, but I think the other players have also learned a lot from watching the great senior player, and they will be able to endure and be patient, and then attack when it counts and win the rally. I would like to see how things go.
Key Player: Ai Takahashi
I would like Nishida to serve hard and Kentaro to make great blocks, but in Ishikawa's absence, it is these players who will attract attention.
He is extremely trusted for his excellent receiving ability, but he also has some issues with his offensive power up front.
However, in Ishikawa's absence, how much he can contribute offensively will be a very important factor. I hope he will grow a lot in this game.
We also expect her to contribute with her serve. Ai has been serving really well in this tournament, but we are looking forward to her attacking hard together with Nishida on Ishikawa's behalf!
Anyway, do your best Japan!
To be honest, even if Japan were to perform at their best, it is unclear whether they could win against the current French national team.
But I hope that with the current members they can put on an exciting game for us.
I feel like they could definitely do it now. No, they definitely could!
Anyway, good luck Japan!!!
Photo: FIVB
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