JAPAN vs USA | Highlights | Men's VNL 2024. The third week of the qualifying round of the Volleyball Nations League 2024 (VNL) Philippine tournament is underway in Manila.

On the final day of the preliminary round, Sunday, June 23rd, the Japanese men's national team, ranked 4th in the FIVB world rankings (before the start of the match), faced off against the United States, ranked 5th, and won in straight sets 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-19). This was Japan's first win against the United States in eight years, since 2016. Japan finished the preliminary round with 9 wins and 3 losses (25 points).

Japan made major changes to their starting lineup from the previous day's match against France. In the first set, Onodera Futoshi scored two consecutive service aces to take a 6-4 lead early on, and Otsuka Tatsunobu scored consecutive points from his serve to make it 11-7. The Americans gradually improved their form, and Japan took a timeout when the score was 13-13. After the 20th point in the final stages, Miyaura Kento and Kai Yuto scored service aces to take the first set 25-20.

In the second set, the US defense was good, and Otsuka and Kai's success rate began to drop. Nevertheless, Everdedan Larry's block was successful, tying the score at 17-17, and the US took a timeout. Miyaura's service ace put Japan back on track at 21-20, but the US fell behind again, and at 22-23, Japan took a timeout. In a back-and-forth game, Japan won the heated rallies and took the second set.

In the third set, USA took the lead 6-9 with the 10th block point of the match. With USA still leading by two points, they conceded a service ace to make it 13-16. Still, they got a break point on Larry's serve to tie the score at 18-18, and then Miyaura served again to break and turn the game around to 20-19. With Miyaura riding on the momentum, she got match point at 24-19 with three consecutive service aces, and Kai finally scored a spike to make it 25-19. They won in straight sets with a 3-0 set count.

In addition to the high success rate of the middle blocker rally players, Miyaura and others were able to get many service aces, which led to the victory. Although the team was mainly made up of reserve members, it was a match that showed the depth of the player base.

Kento Miyaura

"It was a difficult match and there were many tough moments, but I'm glad that we were able to attack with tenacity as a team towards the end. I've had a good feeling with my serves since yesterday, so I was conscious of maintaining that feeling. Today, I was able to hit with all my might at the crucial moments. The U.S. didn't have their main players on the field today, but they have a lot of good players, especially in the middle blocker position. Their main players are all superstars, so I think it will be a tough match if we play against them at the Olympics. (Our defense and blocks were good.) It's great that we were able to persevere as a team. Tenacity is our strength, and if that's working, it will make the opponents feel uncomfortable. Personally, I had some tough times from the start of the tournament, but I've been able to solve them little by little, so I want to carry that on and go into the final round. The final round will be an even tougher match, so I want to fight as a team. I want to learn a lot and use it to get to the Olympics."

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