Asians and South Americans were involved in three scrimmages over the week in Nagoya
Japanese and Brazilians pose together after one of their scrimmages in Nagoya (Photo: JVA)
Volleyball Nations League 2023 contenders Japan and Brazil got a good feel of each other ahead of the start of the tournament as the teams battled in 12 sets over the last four days in Nagoya, Japan, just a few days ahead of their debuts.
Asians and South Americans agreed to play four sets in each of the three scrimmages they held in the host city of the VNL Pool 2, with each side prevailing on one and a third duel ending tied.
The series of scrimmages started on Thursday, when the teams split sets, with the Japanese winning the first (25-22) and third (25-23) and the Brazilians prevailing on the second (25-21) and fourth (25-23).
The second duel took place on the following day and Brazil was on the winning side, downing the Asians 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-23, 25-20). In the last meeting, on Sunday, the Japanese fought back and were dominant, overcoming their opponents in all four sets (25-17, 25-22, 25-17, 25-18).
“These friendly matches have been great for our adjustments,” Brazilian outside hitter Julia Bergmann said. “We’ll play some very good teams in the opening week of the VNL. China has a very tall and strong team, but they are very good on defense too and playing Japan has helped us get ready for it. Now we know what we need to adjust for our first match.”
Besides the Chinese, who will be their opponents on Wednesday, at 18:00 local time (09:00 UTC), the Brazilians will also play the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic and Croatia in the opening week of the VNL.
The Japanese will get on the court for the first time on Tuesday, against the Dominicans, at 19:40 local time (10:40 UTC). They will also play Croatia, Bulgaria and China in Pool 2.
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