Japan continued their winning streak in the Nations League, after defeating Italy 3:2 (24:26, 25:19, 25:20, 23:25, 15:12) in Osaka, recording their ninth success in nine matches. Laurent Tillie's team demonstrated excellent play in attack and on serve, with Ran Takahashi and Yuki Ishikawa leading the hosts to another valuable victory. This is the fourth tie-break win for the "Samurai". With this victory, Japan has practically secured their ticket to the finals in China.
Italy started stronger and snatched the first set after a hard-fought battle, but in the next two sets, they experienced serious difficulties dealing with the aggressive serving and fast combinations of the Japanese. Setter Hidemori Fukatsu organized diverse and fast-paced play, from which Ishikawa and Takahashi benefited the most.
In the fourth set, coach Ferdinando De Giorgi changed the lineup, bringing in Luca Porro, Pardo Matti, and Gennaro Laurenzano. The substitutions paid off, Italy stabilized their reception, improved their blocking game, and equalized the score, sending the match into a tie-break.
In the decisive fifth set, the Japanese again showed stronger nerves. They made a decisive break in the middle of the set and did not allow the "Azzurri" to make a comeback, closing the match at 15:12.
After the victory, Japan remains the sole leader in the temporary VNL standings with 9 wins, 22 points, and an impressive set ratio of 27:13. Italy remains with 5 wins and 17 points, occupying fifth place, but has already played nine matches. This leaves them in an extremely competitive battle with Ukraine (5 wins, 16 points), Turkey (5 wins, 14 points), and Bulgaria (5 wins, 14 points), who each have one less match played and can overtake them on the first day of the third week.
The success also brought new points to Japan in the world ranking. The Asian team added 7 points and now has a total of 331.21, remaining in fifth place. Italy lost 7 points but maintains its second position with 367.53 points. The difference between the two teams in the world ranking is now just over 36 points.
photo:volleyballworld.com
