VNL: Japan men survive China, keep unbeaten run

MANILA – Kento Miyaura provided the needed spark for Japan to eke out a nail-biting five-setter win over China in the continuation of the Men’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2023 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Miyaura dropped 15 points in the match, most of which in the must-win sets four and five, to pull Japan from a collapse, 24-26, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 15-12, in front of the raucous Pinoy volleyball fans on Tuesday. 

Yuki Ishikawa tallied game-high 19 points on 16 attacks, two blocks, and ace while crowd-favorite Ran Takahashi had 15 markers including four aces to stretch their perfect record to 9-0. 

The Chinese squad appeared to be on their way to a major upset win in the tournament as Dejun Zhai scored an ace for a 9-5 fourth set lead. 

But the Japanese squad slowly returned in the match with Miyaura, off the bench, hammered a game-tying crosscourt kill, 13-all. 

They eventually stole the upper hand after a quick hit of Akihiro Yamauchi followed by an off-the-block kill of Miyaura, 20-18. 

China regained the lead after an attack error from the Japanese side, 22-21. But an error of Chinese sparked a crucial three straight points, capped by an off-the-block spike of Miyaura anew to put them at set point, 24-22. 

Japan did not waste their momentum – and the Pinoys’ chants – in the deciding frame as Miyaura registered an ace before Takahashi unleashed a drop ball for an 8-5 separation. 

Yamauchi made it a four-point game in the latter part of the fifth, 13-9, before Miyaura put on the finishing touch for Japan through a crosscourt kill. 

“I’m so happy to play here (in the Philippines) again and every fan…when I make points everyone like cheer. I am so happy to play here,” Ishikawa told reporters. 

Meanwhile, Italy opened the third week of the men’s VNL in the Philippines with a rousing four-setter win over the powerhouse Brazil. 

The Italians bucked a slow start to hammer a 23-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-21 win against the Brazilians to equalize the record of their opponent at 6-3. 

Yuri Romano steered Italy with 20 points on 16 attacks and four aces while Alessandro Michielletto put up 17 points to strengthen their quarterfinals bid in the competition. 

“We’re very happy for this win. We need this in the standings. After losing the first set, we played well and won the next three. We’re very happy. It’s very important for our qualification,” said Romano, whose attack gave Italy a 20-19 lead in the clincher.

Italy built their composure in the second frame as they overturned a 2-7 start into a 13-11 reversal with Michielletto went for a crosscourt spike.

An ace by Simone Giannelli and an error by the Brazilians widened the gap to 18-13. They never looked…