In-form Japan dominated the highly-anticipated Week 2 clash against Russia as Sarina Koga racked up a game-high 21 points in the 2021 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League in Rimini, Italy on Wednesday.
Japan, defending and consecutive two-time Asian champions, continued their remarkable run in the top-flight competition following their exceptional 25-20, 25-21, 25-21 win against Russia, spearheaded by hard-hitting Nataliya Goncharova, to capture their fifth win in six matches contested so far.
Koga was the driving force for Japan, finishing with 21 points including 18 attacks, while Mayu Ishikawa kept good company to distribute 20 points including 19 powerful attacks. Nataliya Goncharova led Russia with 13 points including 12 attacks.
Russia’s Arina Fedorovtseva said at the virtual mixed zone: “Japan usually play very fast volleyball. We were obligated to prepare our tactics for this style of volleyball. It was not our best game, but we will improve. Yesterday we took on Brazil, today Japan – they present completely different volleyball – Brazil have a lot of power; Japan play really fast. We were supposed to adjust our style to them, but we didn’t manage.”
Japan’s Erika Shinomiya said: “This victory is very important for us. Two days ago we lost to Brazil and we had to fix some aspects of our game. Therefore, these two wins – yesterday against Italy and today against Russia are important for us. Today, our attack worked very well.
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