VNL 2026

There’s no stopping Japan – 3-2 over world champs Italy with Giannelli!

Ran Takahashi leads his team to their ninth victory in VNL 2026

Published 12:52, 15 Jul 2026

Japan (JPN) vs. Italy (ITA) - Pool 9 - Preliminary Phase #114610883

Japan’s Ran Takahashi overcomes Italy’s block attempt by Simone Giannelli

In a spectacular five-set battle against reigning world champions Italy on Wednesday in Osaka, Japan celebrated the victory to extend their winning streak to nine consecutive matches since the start of the men’s Volleyball Nations League 2026.

Watch the Volleyball Nations League 2026 on VBTV

In front of well over seven thousand fans in the stands, the home team battled it out for a thrilling 3-2 (24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 15-12) victory over Italy, led by their star setter and captain Simone Giannelli in his first VNL 2026 appearance. The Asian squad improved to a 9-0 win-loss record and 22 points. Furthermore, it was already the fifth VNL 2026 win they achieved after a five-set duel. Meanwhile, Italy picked up a point to surpass Ukraine in the current standings. They are now fifth on 5-4 and 17.

Outside hitter Ran Takahashi led the way with a match-high 26 points, including the match winner. His tally featured two aces and a kill block. Opposite Yuji Nishida registered a 66% success rate in offense towards a 20-point total, while experienced outside and captain Yuki Ishikawa chipped in with another 17 points, including two aces. He got to within three kills of an important career milestone – 1,000 attack points in the VNL.

“It was a very good game! Our defense and service worked well, so we are so happy,” Ishikawa told VBTV after the game.

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Net defense was the only scoring element, in which Italy outperformed Japan. They put up 13 kill blocks, against just three from their opponents, with 22-year-old substitution outside Luca Porro leading the chart with three. With a total of 11 points, he was one of the five Italian players to reach the double digits in the match, along with 22-year-old opposite Alessandro Bovolenta with 14 points, outside hitters Daniele Lavia with 13 and Mattia Bottolo with 12, and middle blocker Giovanni Sanguinetti with 11. Upon his VNL 2026 debut, playmaker Giannelli killed five balls in attack himself and put up two kill blocks to get to within just one of his 100-stuff mark in the VNL.

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“They gave us a lot of trouble with their defense and attack. They are so good!” said Bovolenta. “They put us under a lot of pressure in these fundamentals, so it was a good match. Maybe our defense in the important moments of the match and our blocking at the beginning of the match showed us what we need to learn.”

It was the last match of the first competition day of the pool in Osaka. Earlier on Wednesday, the third VNL competition week started off with Argentina’s nail-biting 3-2 (24-26, 22-25, 25-23, 25-13, 19-17) reverse sweep of their game against Canada to improve to 3-6 and 9 in 13^th place and push the North Americans down to 1-8 and 9 in 16^th place. Two outside hitters – Argentina’s Luciano Vicentin (three aces, two kill blocks) and Canada’s Skyler Varga (three aces, one kill block) – shared the top scorer honors with 20 points each.

To make Canada’s risky situation worse, in the second match of the day, Cuba hammered out a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-20) shutout of Belgium, celebrating their first win of the VNL season and improving to 1-8 and five, just below the North Americans, in 17^th place. The Belgians are in 14^th place on 3-6 and 9. Outside Marlon Yant contributed an impressive five aces towards Cuba’s victory and finished with a total of 14 points. His cross-court teammate Miguel Lopez put away a team-high 15 points, including two aces, while 22-year-old opposite Ferre Reggers scored a match-high 17 points for Belgium.