VNL 2025

Japan back to winning ways with four aces from Ishikawa

Bulgaria deny Thailand full turnaround from two sets down

Published 11:07, 22 Jun 2025

Czechia (CZE) vs. Japan (JPN) women - Pool 5 - Preliminary Phase #47931386

Japan’s Mayu Ishikawa enjoying the fans’ love

After two hard-fought losses to Italy and China, Japan got back on the winning track in the women’s Volleyball Nations League after sweeping their last match of the week in Hong Kong against Czechia on Sunday. They improved to a 6-2 win-loss record and 18 points and occupy fourth place in the current VNL standings. On the other hand, Czechia’s two-game winning streak came to an end, but the VNL rookies are still above the cut-off for the Finals, in eighth place on 4-4 and 10. Before that, Bulgaria stopped Thailand’s rush for a reverse sweep and managed to beat the Asian team in the tie-breaker to rise to 11^th place on 3-5 and 9. On 1-7 and 5, Thailand are third from the bottom, in 16^th place.

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With outside hitter and captain Mayu Ishikawa and opposite Yukiko Wada leading the way in scoring, Japan produced a hard-fought 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-20) victory over Czechia. Ishikawa fired four aces, put up a kill block and spiked at a 52% success rate to top the charts on a total of 17 points. Wada chipped in with another 16, including one direct serving point. Swinging at a 73% success rate, middle blocker Airi Miyabe also reached the double digits, adding two blocks and an ace towards an 11-point tally.

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“I think we played well tactically today. Discipline was high, precision was good and the score was most important for us. It was an important victory. Next week we play at home, in Japan, so with six victories right now we have a big advantage to go to the Finals, and we will fight for that,” Japan’s Turkish head coach Ferhat Akbas told VBTV. “Czechia are a great team. They had some great victories and it is difficult to play against them. This season the VNL is really crazy – everybody beats everybody. But we just want to make sure that we are at the Finals, so we will try our best for more victories.”

Czechia put up some tough resistance against the powerful opponents, but had to yield in straight sets. Outside hitters Helena Grozer and captain Michaela Mlejnkova, and 20-year-old opposite Monika Brancuska all reached the double digits in scoring, with 12, 11 and 11 points, respectively.

The day in Hong Kong started with a thrilling five-setter. After losing the first two sets against Bulgaria, Thailand fought back and leveled the score. In the tie-breaker, however, the Europeans dominated again to celebrate a 3-2 (26-24, 25-13, 21-25, 22-25, 15-9) victory.

In addition to taking advantage of the abundant opponent errors, Bulgaria made the difference in blocking, putting up as many as 12 kill blocks, against only four from Thailand. Bulgaria’s star outside and captain Elitsa Atanasijevic authored two of those and delivered another 17 points in attack towards a match-high 19 points, including the match winner. Middle blockers Nasya Dimitrova and Hristina Vuchkova raised three stuffs each. Dimitrova also fired a couple of aces to finish with 18 points. Vuchkova registered a 65% success rate in her first-tempo attacks and put together a 16-point tally. Opposite Radostina Marinova also contributed 16 points, while outside Aleksandra Milanova added another 11.

Four players reached the double digits on Thailand’s side, led by 19-year-old outside Warisara Seetaloed and her cross-court teammate Sasipapron Janthawisut with 15 points apiece, all in swings. Opposite Thanacha Sooksod and middle Thatdao Nuekjang added 14 and 13 points, respectively.

The last day of the women’s VNL competition week will offer as many as nine matches in total. The big match of the day in Hong Kong, between hosts China and defending champions Italy, is set to start at 20:00 (12:00). Currently playing are Belgium and Canada in Istanbul and Germany and the Netherlands in Belgrade. Sunday’s program will continue with Korea meeting the Dominican Republic in Istanbul, before Turkiye and Brazil lock horns in the day’s highlight, serving off at 19:30 local time (16:30 UTC). France v USA and Serbia v Poland are the remaining fixtures scheduled in Belgrade.