By NIKOLE JAVIER
World No. 1 Poland reasserted its mastery over top seed Japan, 25-17, 25-19, 25-18, in Week 3 of the men’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) before a huge Sunday crowd, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
With its win, Poland, the world’s top team, hiked its record to 10-2 – the same record of Japan, easily the most popular squad in the six-day event.
Despite winning all its four matches in the Manila leg, Poland, however, stayed second behind Japan in the standings going into the final phase of the event which it will going to host next week.
The Japanese have a better quotient than the Poles despite finishing with a 2-2 card in the PH leg.
Wilfredo Leon powered the Poles with 16 points on 10 attacks, three blocks and three service aces, while Lukasz Kaczmarek and Aleksander Sliwka contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Poland, which hasn’t been beaten by Japan in all their international clashes, was aggressive from the start until the endgame.
Tied at 8-all in the second set, Norbert Huber put the Poles ahead of the Japanese with three consecutive service aces, effectively demoralizing the top seed in the process.
From then on, Poland consistently held the advantage and kept Japan at bay.
If the third seed USA beats Bulgaria, Japan will tackle seventh seed Slovenia in the quarterfinals.
Tatsunori Otsuka was the lone bright spot for the Japanese team with 11 points as Yuji Nishida and skipper Yuki Ishikawa were held to nine and seven points, respectively.
