JAPAN stretched its perfect run to 10 matches after disposing of The Netherlands, 25-19, 26-24, 23-25, 25-17, in Week 3 of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) men’s tournament before a big and loud crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Japanese ran roughshod in the fourth set where they led by as many as nine points on several occasions to clinch the big win in one hour and 43 minutes and solidify their hold of the No. 1 seed ahead of second-running United States (8-1).
Yuki Ishikawa anchored the victory with 17 points on 14 attacks as the world No. 6 Japan notched its second straight win in the VNL Pasay City leg after a gritty five-setter over China on Tuesday.
Masahiro Sekita facilitated Japan’s smooth offense with 25 sets, providing opportunities for Akihiro Yamauchi, Kento Miyaura and Ran Takahashi in adding 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The crowd darling Takahashi, whose mom came to the Philippines to support him, braved a few stitches on his right hand after the duel that was only extended after Japan’s struggle in the third set.
He sustained the injury while diving for the ball.
Banking on a two-day rest, Japan showed fresher legs for a 25-19 win in the opening set before nearly squandering four set points in the ensuing frame for a narrow 26-24 escape made possible by Sekita’s ace.
But the world No. 10 Netherlands, which just came off a three-set defeat to Brazil on Thursday, saw a slight opening despite a 0-2 deficit by pulling away from a 19-all deadlock in the fourth set to extend the match.
Unfortunately, that was the last stand of the Dutch spikers as the Japanese aces rained it down with a clinical fourth-set win.
VNL’s top spiker in Nimir Abdel-Aziz struggled anew for just three points as Wouter Ter Maat tallied 21 to carry the fight for the Netherlands, which stayed at No. 8 with a 5-6 card but in a shaky position in front of tailgating Serbia (5-5) and France (4-5).
Only the Top 8 teams from the 16-team VNL will qualify for the final round on July 19 to 24 in Poland.
Earlier, Italy (8-3) and Poland (8-2) caught up with the race leaders with big wins over separate counterparts to move inside the Top 4.
Poland, the world No. 1, clobbered Brazil, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21, while world No. 3 Italy blanked Slovenia, 25-13, 25-22, 25-17.