On the first day of the second week of the Nations League, the Japan men's volleyball team played against Canada and won 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 24-26, 25-14).
First set starting lineup
Japan
OH: Ai Takahashi, Ishikawa
MB: Onodera, Yamauchi
OP: Nishida
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
Canada
OH: Hogue, Mar
MB: Eschenko, Demyanenko
OP: Scrater
S: Walsh
L: Curry
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
In the first set, OH Ishikawa's block was successful, and Japan took the lead 8-4 with spikes from OH Ishikawa and MB Onodera. After that, Canada scored consecutive points with spikes from OH Marr and took the lead to 11-12, but from the middle of the set, Japan again widened the gap to 22-19 by inducing Canada to make attack mistakes with their solid defense. Finally, OH Ishikawa scored an attack and Japan took the set 25-22.
In the second set, OH Takahashi Ai's spikes and blocks from MB Yamauchi's serve gave Japan a big lead of 9-2, with five consecutive breaks. After that, OP Nishida's service ace and MB Onodera's quick hits widened the gap to 15-4. Canada's OP Schwartz, who entered the match as a substitute, narrowed the gap a little with high spikes and serves, but in the end, OP Nishida's soft hits were successful and Japan took the set 25-17.
In the third set, Canada extended their lead to 4-7 with spikes from OP Schwartz and OH Marr. Japan then turned the game around to 13-11 with spikes from OP Nishida, a service ace from OH Ishikawa, and a block from OH Takahashi Ai, but Canada quickly turned the game around again with consecutive service aces from OP Schwartz to 13-14. After that, Canada reached set point at 21-24 with a spike from OH Hoag. Japan then brought the game to deuce at 24-24 with a block from MB Onodera, but in the end, OP Miyaura, who entered the game as a substitute, was caught by a block from OH Marr, and Canada took the set at 24-26.
In the fourth set, OH Ishikawa and MB Yamauchi hit service aces early on, and Japan took a 7-2 lead. After that, OH Takahashi Ai's spikes and OH Ishikawa's back attack from the right field led Japan to 18-10. When OP Nishida was on the serve in the final stages, he hit four consecutive breaks, including two service aces, and Japan quickly got to match point at 24-12. Finally, OH Takahashi Ai's spike led Japan to take the set 25-14 and defeat Canada 3-1.
With this, Japan has maintained its provisional first place position in the VNL qualifying round with a total of 5 wins and 15 points from 5 matches. The top 7 teams, excluding the host country Poland, will advance to the final round.
personal MVP
Japan: MB Onodera Futoshi
12 points (including 3 blocks), attack efficiency rate 82%
Despite being a middle-back, he scored double digits, and his attack effectiveness rate was an astonishing 82%, and he showed his presence with his quicks and blocks from start to finish of the match. Setter Sekita's somewhat forceful tosses also led to points, and Onodera's quicks attracted the opponent's attention, which allowed other attacks such as the side and pipes to go through well. If the middle-backs can score double digits against any team, I think their win rate will go up, so I hope they continue to do their best like this.
Runner-up: Yuki Ishikawa (23 points (3 serves, 1 block), attack effectiveness rate 571 TP3T, serve reception success rate 48%)
Canada: OP Arthur Schwartz
16 points (3 on serve, 1 on block), attack effectiveness rate 28%
Game changer. He entered the court midway through the second set and made a major contribution to Canada's side-out, and in the third set he played a major role in taking the set, taking two consecutive service aces from defensive master Ai Takahashi. He lost steam in the fourth set, but it was amazing to come in midway through and show the possibility of a comeback, which is something not just anyone can do. And he was really good looking (laughs).
Thoughts etc.
It's been a while since I last covered/watched a Japanese national team match on-site!!
Looking back, I wasn't able to watch Ryujin live even once last year, so this will be my first time watching him live since the 2021 Chiba Asian Championships (lol).
But strangely, it didn't feel like it had been a long time, perhaps because I've been following the achievements of the Japanese national team players here, including during the club season...
As for the match itself, Japan was pretty strong as usual.
As expected, the ball never hit the floor. I can't count how many times I turned a single dig into a point.
Also, Onodera, who I named as the MVP, really shone in this match with his quick plays. I think of Yamauchi as the quick, Takahashi Kentaro as the block, and Onodera as the well-balanced, but in today's match, the balance between the blocks and quick plays was at a high level. Yamauchi, who is on the opposite side, had a hard time scoring with his quick plays, but he made a big contribution with his two aces, many breaks, and serves.
Also, regarding the serving tactics, especially in the second set, he obviously reduced the risk and hit control serves to players other than the libero. Ai Takahashi and others were mostly short serves, which was easy to understand, but I watched the match thinking, "It's amazing that he can win even with such reduced risk, it's something that only the strongest players do." But it's really amazing that he can use such tactics. If you don't need to take risks to increase your chances of winning, you don't want to take them.
However, I was concerned that Japan lost seven points on serve reception, which was a lot compared to previous games. Canada was able to win because their side-outs were weak, but it will be very tough to win against an opponent who normally uses side-outs to attack with their serves.
However, Japan also managed to get 8 service aces, mainly using control serves. Two of Ishikawa's serves into the corner of zone 1 and Nishida's final serve in the 4th set were memorable. Ishikawa's serve went from a movement that looked like he was aiming for zone 5 to zone 1, so watching it I thought, "Wow, that's amazing!" and Nishida's serve was not only powerful, but the "Nishida" calls from the crowd were amazing.
There were a lot of invited (?) children there that day, and when some of them shouted "Nishida! Nishida!", the sound spread throughout the venue and the whole arena was filled with Nishida calls. It really felt as if Japan was playing a home game in France. Even before that, I had heard the children shout "Japon! Japon! (Japan! Japan!)". But I was reminded once again of just how popular Nishida is among overseas volleyball fans (especially males), and how Nishida, who has scored multiple aces among them, is also a party guy (lol).
While Nishida has regained his form, Miyaura's performance was not so good in this match. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Well, Ryujin Nippon played their first match in the France tournament with their so-called A-men. I wonder what they'll do in the next match against Cuba. Personally, I don't think they'll change their members much. They'll surely beat Cuba and Argentina, who are ranked lower in the world, with their A-men, and then they'll play Brazil, who is ranked higher, with their B-men. That's what the realistic coach Blanc might do.
Anyway, do your best tomorrow, Ryujin Nippon!!
VNL Week 2 France Tournament Information
Information about the opponents for Week 2 is summarized in the article or video below.
How to watch Nations League 2023
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Photo: FIVB
Photo book "CATCH ××× DREAM" featuring Ryujin Nippon's three players Ishikawa, Takahashi, and Nishida will be released on June 5th! ↓
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