
Volleyball: Japan edged by Brazil in women's Nations League semifinal
The 23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 19-25, 15-8 defeat in Lodz, Poland, set up a bronze medal match against the host nation on Sunday, with Brazil to take on Italy in the final.
Captain Mayu Ishikawa, who scored 19 points overall, helped Japan edge the opening set with good serves, while fellow opposite hitter Yukiko Wada played a strong fourth set on her way to a team-high 20 points.
Brazil captain Gabriela Braga Guimaraes led all scorers with 25 points, one more than her teammate Julia Isabelle Bergmann, who scored six points in the decider.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Mainichi
6 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Volleyball: Japan falls 3-0 to Poland in Nations League quarterfinals
NINGBO, China (Kyodo) -- Japan's bid for Volleyball Nations League glory came to a crashing halt Thursday with a 3-0 quarterfinal loss to Paris Olympic men's silver medalist Poland. Led by opposite spiker Kewin Sasak's 15 points, Poland prevailed 25-23, 26-24, 25-12 at the Ningbo Beilun Sports and Art Centre to book a semifinal showdown against Brazil. Opposite spiker Kento Miyaura scored a match-high 17 for Japan, which led for stretches of the opening set and went neck-and-neck with Poland in the second before the Europeans ran away with the third. Star outside hitter Ran Takahashi said Japan paid the price after it "wasted" opportunities to clinch the first two sets. "We need to address the weakness and complacency that prevented us winning the first and second sets," Takahashi said. "There were a lot of situations where we failed to complete our attacks." Slovenia defeated defending VNL and Olympic champion France 3-1 in Thursday's other quarterfinal.


The Mainichi
5 days ago
- The Mainichi
Volleyball: Japan edged by Brazil in women's Nations League semifinal
LODZ, Poland (Kyodo) -- Japan lost in five sets to powerhouse Brazil in the women's Volleyball Nations League semifinals on Saturday, as last year's runner-up failed to reach a second straight final. The 23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 19-25, 15-8 defeat in Lodz, Poland, set up a bronze medal match against the host nation on Sunday, with Brazil to take on Italy in the final. Captain Mayu Ishikawa, who scored 19 points overall, helped Japan edge the opening set with good serves, while fellow opposite hitter Yukiko Wada played a strong fourth set on her way to a team-high 20 points. Brazil captain Gabriela Braga Guimaraes led all scorers with 25 points, one more than her teammate Julia Isabelle Bergmann, who scored six points in the decider.


Japan Today
7 days ago
- Japan Today
Japan beats Turkey to reach Nations League women's semis
Japan captain Mayu Ishikawa (2nd from R) celebrates with teammates after winning a point against Turkey during their Nations League women's volleyball quarterfinal match in Lodz, Poland, on July 24, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Volleyball World)(Photo not for sale)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo volleyball Japan advanced to the Nations League women's volleyball semifinals by defeating Turkey three sets to two on Thursday in Lodz, Poland. The Japanese, who finished runner-up to Italy at last year's Nations League, won 25-21, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-9, with captain Mayu Ishikawa leading the way with a team-high 19 points. "We were able to attack aggressively as our head coach always tells us," Ishikawa said. "We often found ourselves in tough situations because of poor serve-receptions. But we helped each other with clutch spikes and good defense." Melissa Teresa Vargas scored a match-high 22 points for Turkey. Japan will next play Brazil on Saturday for a spot in the final. © KYODO