VNL 2026

Japan book Finals spot with yet another five-set win; Ishikawa hits 1000 VNL spike kills mark

Canada suffer seventh (!) tie-breaker loss in VNL 2026

Published 01:33, 16 Jul 2026

Japan (JPN) vs. Canada (CAN) - Pool 9 - Preliminary Phase #114992485

Japan’s Yuki Ishikawa in attack against Canada

Japan pulled off yet another five-set win to stay undefeated on top of the current standings in the men’s Volleyball Nations League 2026 and secure a spot in the upcoming Finals in China. After reverse-sweeping their game with Canada in Osaka on Thursday, the Japanese team has now collected 10 victories in 10 matches played, with as many as six of them achieved in tie-breaker fifth sets. Meanwhile, for heart-broken Canada, it was the seventh tie-breaker loss since the start of the season! During the first set of the match with the North Americans, Japan’s outside hitter and captain Yuki Ishikawa, the best spiker in the history of the VNL, reached a remarkable milestone, passing the 1,000 career VNL attack points mark.

Watch the Volleyball Nations League 2026 on VBTV

In front of an official count of 7,377 fans in the stands, the home team came back from two sets down to battle it out for a 3-2 (18-25, 24-26, 29-27, 25-19, 15-11) victory over Canada. The ending of the third set was particularly dramatic, with the North American side failing to capitalize on a 22-19 lead to close the match. Instead, Japan, inspired by their fantastic fans, caught up, took over the lead to push the set to overtime and eventually win it on their fifth set point.

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They outplayed the opponents in fewer unforced errors (24-28), more aces (4-2), but mostly in spike kills (74-66). 18 of those kills were authored by outside hitter Tatsunori Otsuka, who emerged as the team’s leading scorer of the match. Opposite Kento Miyaura, outside Shoma Tomita and middle blocker Larry Ik Evbade-Dan added 15, 14 and 12 points, respectively.

“We played with, like, the second team from the third set. We were able to bring in new energy and that was good,” Miyaura told VBTV. “On the bench, we always try to learn from what is happening on the court.”

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To achieve this turnaround, Japan’s French head coach Laurent Tillie changed many of his starting players as the game unfolded. Captain Yuki Ishikawa was among those replaced. Before that, however, he chipped in with seven successful swings to bring his all-time VNL total to a record-high 1,004 attack points, the most anyone has ever scored in the history of the competition.

Canada outperformed Japan in net defense by 16-5 in kill blocks. Their middle Jackson Howe put up five towards a total of 17 points, while outside Jackson Young raised another five towards a match-high 21 points. Having suffered an amazing seventh tie-breaker loss this season, the Canadians have now collected as many as 10 points, but standing 16^th on a 1-9 win-loss record, they are seriously threatened by relegation.

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“We are fighting for our lives out here! You know, we are fighting, we are fighting through every game and we were so close so many times. I’ve got so much love for this team and it’s just hard,” said a tearful Jackson Young. “We just don’t stop. We are grinders. We know these next two games are going to be such a fight for us and such a rollercoaster of emotions, as you can see. We just have to keep going, keep our heads down and keep pushing forward…”

In the first match on Thursday’s program, Italy bounced back from Wednesday’s loss to Japan in Osaka, with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22) shutout of VNL rookies Belgium. The reigning world champions moved up to fifth place in the table on 6-4 and 20, while Belgium are in 14^th place on 3-7 and 9. 19-year-old middle blocker Pardo Mati led the southern Europeans with 13 points, including three stuffs and an ace. Opposite Yuri Romano added another 12 points, while outside Mattia Bottolo finished with 11 for the winners. 22-year-old Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers topped the chart with a total of 14 points for the western European side.