Overcoming the height disadvantage, a strong serve turned out to be the magic weapon of the Japanese women's volleyball team to dominate the first stop of the 2025 VNL

The 2025 World Volleyball League (VNL) will start the second week of the women's tournament on the 18th. Among them, the Japanese women's volleyball team will play against Thailand, Italy, China and Slovenia in Hong Kong. Before the next battle, some Japanese media recently reviewed the performance of the Japanese women's volleyball team in the first week.

Shuno Sato (bottom left) and others who were happy in the match against the Dominican Republic in Ottawa, Canada

The Japanese women's volleyball team won all four games in Ottawa, Canada in the first week, all of which were won in straight sets, and are currently ranked first among all 18 teams, and the world ranking has risen from 7th to 5th before the opening.

What was impressive was the Japanese team's serve. In the match against the Netherlands on the 4th (local time, the same below), the service score was 9 points, the match against Canada on the 7th was 7 points, and the match against the Dominican Republic team on the 8th was 10 points.

The Japanese women's volleyball team participating in the 2025 World Volleyball League (VNL).

Masuke Ishikawa, Yukiko Wada, Shuno Sato, Arashi Miyabe, Nanami Sekina and others also played a good role with subtle changes in their hands, and the serve that fell in front also played a good role. Not only is there a large number of players who can score points, but the Japanese women's volleyball team's serve also destroys the opponent's pass many times, and the effective blocking also provides an opportunity to play a quick counterattack.

Misora Akimoto (right), happy for the team's score

Japanese media said that for the Japanese women's volleyball team, whose average height is lower than that of European and American teams, "strengthening the serve" is the most important topic. Judging from the current situation, the practical efforts of the players have been shown in the competition as results. However, it should also be noted that this season is the year to start the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and there are many other national teams that allow the main team to recuperate and allow young people to accumulate experience, and the Japanese women's volleyball team is in a period when there are more experienced players. In the second week of the VNL, the Japanese women's volleyball team will play against strong teams such as China and Italy, which is another real test.