The star outside hitter was her team’s second-best scorer in their first match in the tournament
Ishikawa celebrates a point with her teammates
Star outside hitter Mayu Ishikawa stepped up in her first match as the captain of the Japanese national team and helped the Asians have a vastly successful debut in the Volleyball Nations League 2025.
The Japanese delivered a strong performance on Wednesday to take the first victory in Pool 1 at The Arena at TD Place, in Ottawa, overcoming the Netherlands in straight sets. In the second match of the day, the Dominican Republic produced a massive comeback to beat world champions Serbia. The schedule will be completed with hosts Canada and Bulgaria battling at 19:30 (23:30 GMT).
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Playing their first match with new head coach Ferhat Akbas on the sidelines, Japan had a solid performance in Ottawa, dominating the Netherlands from start to finish to secure a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-16) victory that earned them 7.69 FIVB World Ranking points.
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The match also marked the first appearance of the 25-year-old Ishikawa as the Japanese captain – she inherited the role after the retirement of star outside hitter Sarina Koga, who captained the team for many years. The new responsibility didn’t faze Ishikawa, who was excellent throughout the match, producing 15 points, with 14 kills and one ace.
She was the second most productive player on the court, only behind fellow Japanese outside hitter Yoshino Sato, who led the team with 18 points (14 kills, four blocks). Opposite Yukiko Wada also got to double digits, registering 12 points, all in kills.
“I think we did a really good job on defense today and were also very aggressive at the net and that helped us get the result we wanted,” middle blocker Airi Miyabe, Japan’s fourth-best scorer with six points, said. “It was definitely a really good way for us to start the VNL. Now we’ll try to keep our expectations under control and try to bring what we need to win every match.”
Fielding a young lineup, the Dutch got most of their production from 21-year-old Dutch opposite Elles Dambrink, who tallied ten points (all in kills), and 22-year-old outside hitter Iris Vos, who registered nine, all of them with swings.
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Dominicans complete reverse sweep against Serbia
The second match of the day in Ottawa was more unpredictable and had the Dominican Republic coming back from a two-set deficit to beat Serbia. The Queens of the Caribbean didn’t go down after dropping the first two sets and came back to triumph 3-2 (26-28, 19-25, 25-15, 25-20, 18-16), winning the first tie-breaker of the seventh edition of the VNL.
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Outside hitter Brayelin Martinez, who scored 17 points (11 kills, five blocks, one ace), her sister and middle blocker Jineiry, who registered 16 (14 kills, two blocks), and opposite Gaila González, who also got 16 (11 kills, four blocks, one ace), were key pieces in the incredible Dominican comeback.
Serbia centralized their scoring efforts in outside hitter Aleksandra Uzelac, who carried their offense with 30 points (25 kills, three aces, two blocks) and became the first player to reach the mark in the VNL 2025. Opposite Vanja Bukilić came next, with 15 (13 kills, two aces).
VNL 2025 – Match Schedule & Results
On Thursday, two matches will take place at The Arena at TD Place, with Bulgaria and the Dominican Republic meeting at 16:00 (20:00 GMT) and Canada and the Netherlands playing later, at 19:30 (23:30 GMT).
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