Ryujin Nippon shut out Cuba to stay undefeated in VNL 2023
Takahashi outjumps the Cuban blockers
Japan mastered yet another Volleyball Nations League 2023 victory to stay unbeaten in the competition on top of the current standings on a 6-0 win-loss record and 18 points. In a Pool 3 game in Orleans on Wednesday, Ran Takahashi led Ryujin Nippon to a convincing 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-21) shutout of Cuba.
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Spiking at a 68% success rate, the 21-year-old outside hitter delivered a match-high 14 points, including an ace, towards Japan’s victory. The Cubans managed to outblock and outserve Japan, but committed far too many unforced errors during the match (30 against 17). Their outsides Miguel Lopez and Marlon Yant finished with 10 points apiece.
Japan stormed the match on a 4-0 run. Cuba caught up at 9-9, but it was only momentary. With opposite Yuji Nishida spearheading the attack, the Asians broke away again and cruised on to close the first set at 25-21 on an off-the-block hit by Ran Takahashi. Japan clearly outplayed Cuba in the second set as well, especially with their first-tempo offence, with middle blocker Akihiro Yamauchi leading the way. He spiked to bring in set point and, upon his serve that followed, the opponents committed an error that closed the set at an emphatic 25-16. The third set was the most hard-fought of the three, with Cuba maintaining control of the scoreboard for most of the first half, while Marlon Yant dominated at the net. However, taking advantage of the abundant Cuban unforced errors and with Takahashi keeping the fire burning in offence, Japan regained control on the court and cruised on to close the match at 25-21.
Yuji Nishida spikes past Miguel Lopez’s block
“Today we met a great team with very tall blockers and I didn’t like this situation. They made a lot of block points on us, but in the end we won, so I am very happy,” said Yuji Nishida after the match. “Tomorrow we have a more difficult game, but our focus is only on another win.”
On Thursday, at 13:00 local time (11:00 UTC), Japan will take on Brazil, and in the evening, at 20:30 (18:30), Cuba will face Slovenia.
Brazil’s Alan Souza spikes with a smile
In Tuesday’s late match in New Orleans, Brazil mastered a 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-15) shutout of Bulgaria to improve to a 4-1 win-loss record and 12 points. The South Americans are third in the current standings, leaving the southern Europeans in 11th…
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