VNL Finals:
History-making Japan routs Slovenia to meet Poland in the semifinals
Japan picked up where it had left off in the preliminary round, coming out on top against Slovenia in straight sets to become the first Asian team to progress to the semifinals of the Volleyball Nations League.
Prolific outside-hitter and captain Yuki Ishikawa – the top scorer at this year’s event with 232 points – chipped in a game-high 27 points to inspire the Japanese to an emphatic 26-24, 25-18, 25-22 victory in Gdansk’s Ergo Arena in Poland on Thursday.
Yuji Nishida also contributed with 12 points for Japan, which won 10 in 12 outings to finish second to USA in the 16-team table of the previous round, while middle-blocker Alen Pajenk and Tine Urnaut had 12 points apiece for the Slovenians.
Japan will square off against host Poland today for a place in Sunday’s final showdown.
The European heavyweight walked away with a straight-set victory over the Asian powerhouse in the preliminary round but today’s game will be a different task for the host as Japan had already secured a place in the VNL Finals before heading into the dead-rubber against Poland in the final game of Week 3.
Later on Thursday, a 16-point performance by Polish outside-hitter Aleksander Sliwka led the home side to a 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-20) win against volleyball giant Brazil.
Wilfredo Leon Venero (11 points) and Mateusz Bieniek (10) also finished in double figures for Poland, while Alan Souza and Ricardo Lucarelli topped the scoring for the Brazilians with 15 and 10 points respectively.
The other last-four clash today will see reigning world champion Italy go head-to-head with USA – last year’s VNL runner-up.
USA defeated France in a five-set thriller (25-21, 25-18, 17-25, 24-26, 15-9) on Wednesday to avenge the defeat against the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist in last year’s final.
Matthew Anderson scored 22 points for the Americans, with Thomas Jaeschke and Torey Defalco respectively finishing on 16 and 12 points.
In the absence of injured outside-hitter Earvin N’Gapeth, Jean Patry led the scoring chart for France with 17 points – followed by Barthélémy Chinenyeze (16 points) and Nicolas Le Goff (14).
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Italy made a quick work of Argentina in three sets (25-17, 25-13, 25-14) to advance into a second successive semifinal – thanks to a 15-point display by Alessandro Michieletto.
Daniele Lavia and Yuri Romanò had 12 and 11 points for the world champion, while Agustin Loser tallied 10 points for the South Americans, whose first-ever appearance in the VNL Finals came to an early finish.