Reigning two-time Asian champions Japan fought long and hard but secured a four-set win over Germany that sees them mathematically join USA and Brazil in the semifinals of the 2021 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League in Rimini, Italy on Saturday.
Japan pulled off a dramatic 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 26-24, 25-15) win against Germany, improving their win-loss record to 11-3 with 30 points to stay at the 3rd position at the 16-team standings.
Mayu Ishikawa chipped in with 17 points for Japan. Sarina Koga added 16, while Ai Kurogo and Haruyo Shimamura grabbed 13 points apiece. Hanna Orthmann led Germany with 20 points, while Marie Scholzel assisted with 15.
Hanna Orthmann said at the virtual Mixed Zone: “I think it was a very good game for us. In the first two sets we managed to keep our blocking. In the last set we lost it a little bit, but I think we can be proud of our blocking and that was very important against Japan who made only a few mistakes. We played a very good game, but unfortunately we lost one set from 24-24 and in the last part we lost our organisation, but either way we can be proud today.”
Haruyo Shimamura said: “Our team performance I would mark for 50 points, because we made many small mistakes, but the fact is that Germany also committed several errors, so they helped us to gain this victory. This match was very important, because we wanted to go to the Finals. Every match and every win is important for our ranking in the standings as we can go as 3rd or 4th team, so we have to gain as many points as possible this week, therefore this 3-1 victory is very important.”
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