Just a few days away from their debuts in the Volleyball Nations League 2023, the men’s national teams of Japan and Poland faced each other in a pair of friendly matches in Aichi on Thursday and Friday.

Each side secured a win in the series, with the Asians prevailing in the first encounter and the Europeans coming out on top in the second. The results generate some momentum for both teams ahead of the start of their VNL journeys in Nagoya, from June 6-11.

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Thursday’s encounter was the most balanced one and required all five sets for a winner to be determined. Playing with full strength, Japan emerged victorious, securing a 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 15-12) victory.

Star outside hitters Ran Takahashi and Yuki Ishikawa led the Japanese victory with 19 and 118 points, respectively, followed by star opposite Yuji Nishida, who fired 12.  Outside hitter Artur Szalpuk scored 18 points for the Europeans, with middle blocker Mateusz Poręba adding another 13.

Japanese coach Philippe Blain decided to rest Ishikawa on Friday’s encounter and that helped Poland take control of the match and secure a 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-19) win.

Also fielding a different lineup, the top-placed team in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Ranking counted on 16 points from opposite Dawid Dulski to secure the win – outside hitters Kamil Semeniuk and Jakub Szymański tallied 14 and 13, respectively. On the Japanese side, Nishida and outside hitter Kenta Takanashi were the only ones to score in double digits, with 14 and 11 points.

“It was a good test for us,” Japanese setter Masahiro Sekita said. “We still have a lot to improve and these matches helped us understand where we can make the most progress. I’m really excited to start competing in the VNL. We need to get results ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, so our goal is to start strong and win the first match.”

The Japanese debut in the VNL 2023 will take place on Tuesday, at 19:40 local time (10:40 UTC), when they face Asian rivals Iran. The team will also face Serbia, Bulgaria and France. The French Olympic champions will be the first Polish opponents, on Wednesday, at 18:00 local time (8:00 UTC). They also have matches scheduled against Iran, Bulgaria and Serbia in the Japanese city.

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