Last year’s Volleyball Nations League men’s silver and bronze medalists Japan and Poland made a solid start to the new VNL season. In the first two matches of the competition, they took three points each from hosts China and the Netherlands, respectively, as Pool 3 action of the Preliminary Phase got underway in Xi’an on Wednesday.
VNL 2025
Last year’s VNL medalists Japan and Poland start strong
They beat China and the Netherlands in VNL 2025 opening matches
Published 11:29, 11 Jun 2025
Shoma Tomita makes successful debut as Japan’s team captain
- Watch the Volleyball Nations League on VBTV
In a classic Asian derby between Japan and China, Ryujin Nippon produced a 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-22) shutout of their opponents, marking the official debut of their new head coach Laurent Tillie from France with a win.
Other than the opponent errors, serving was the point scoring element that made the biggest difference in the match. Japan fired six aces against only one from China. Outside hitter Shoma Tomita garnished his first appearance as Japan’s captain with two of those aces towards a match tally of 11 points, including the block-out hit that delivered the match winner. His cross-court teammate Tatsunori Otsuka also nailed two aces to finish with 10 points, while high-flying opposite Kento Miyaura contributed a match-high 13 points, all in attack at a success rate of 57%. China did better than Japan in blocking, with five stuffs against three. Their middle Li Yongzhen raised three kill blocks to finish with seven points, while outside Yu Yuantai and opposite and captain Jiang Chuan led the team with nine points apiece.
“With so many new members in the team and in the absence of some experienced players, it was a new challenge for us. But we try to keep the same mentality and the same atmosphere in the team,” Kento Miyaura told VBTV after the match. “It was our first match, so the beginning was difficult, but we tried to hold the defense and take it from there. So it turned out well.”
In the season opener earlier on Wednesday, the Netherlands managed to take a set away from the number one team in the FIVB World Ranking, but Poland stood their ground and claimed the three points towards the VNL standings upon a 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22) victory.
The serve was Poland’s strongest weapon in the game, with six aces against two for the opponents. Opposite Kewin Sasak was responsible for three of those and registered a 60% success rate in attack. He and outside Artur Szalpuk put away 19 points each to top the scorers’ chart of the match. The Dutch put up an impressive blocking performance, piling up 11 kill blocks against only six for the Poles. Middle Cornelis Luuc van Der Ent authored as many as five of them to finish with 11 points. Another three players reached the double digits on the Netherlands’ side: outsides Tom Koops with 18 and Bennie Tuinstra with 15, and opposite Michiel Ahyi 14 points.
