Japan defeated Belgium in the opening match of Phase 2 of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship 2022. In a Pool E encounter at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam on Tuesday, they mastered a 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-22) victory, their fifth since the start of the tournament.
Italy, on a 5-0 win-loss record, 15 points and a 15-2 set ratio, top the current Pool E standings ahead of Tuesday’s two remaining fixtures: Italy vs. Brazil at 17:15 local time (15:15 GMT) and Netherlands vs. Argentina at 20:15 (18:15). Japan are now second in the pool on 5-1, 15 points and 15-5 in sets, followed by China on 4-1, 12 and 13-3, Brazil on 4-1, 12 and 13-5, and Belgium on 4-2, 12 and 14-7. The Netherlands are in sixth place on 3-2, while Puerto Rico and Argentina are at the bottom of the standings on 2-3 each. The top four teams from each of the two second-phase pools will advance to the quarterfinals.
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Belgian outside hitter Britt Herbots once again showed her scoring prowess against Japan and produced the match high of 30 points, including two blocks. Blocking was the only element at which the Yellow Tigers did better than their opponents, with 12 stuffs against six. Japan showed a great all-around performance, with two players leading their scorers with 16 points each. Opposite Kotona Hayashi scored twice in blocking and 14 times in offence at a 52% success rate in attack, while outside Mayu Ishikawa delivered an ace and 15 kills, including the first and the last points of the match. Middle blocker Airi Miyabe and outside Sarina Koga, who entered the game in the second set, also reached double digits, scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Belgium’s outside hitter and captain Celine Van Gestel took the first serve of the World Championship’s second phase. Ishikawa scored the first point with a swing. The Europeans reacted with four in a row to take an early 4-1 lead. The Asians caught up at 8-8 on a block-out hit by Hayashi, one of her eight points in the set. They even gained a 10-8 advantage after middle Nichika Yamada monster-blocked a pipe shot by Herbots and Arisa Inoue followed up with a pipe shot of her own. Herbots spiked two points in a row to put her team back in the lead at 13-12, however, and Belgium regained control, this time for good. A block by middle Nathalie Lemmens brought in set point at 24-19, and Herbots produced the 25-21 winner with her…
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