Japan men’s volleyball team suffers heartbreaking defeat, losing 2-3 to Italy in quarterfinals at Paris Olympics

PARIS — Japan’s men’s volleyball team lost a thrilling quarterfinal to Italy at the Paris Olympics on Monday, dashing its hopes of finishing in the top four for the first time in 48 years, since the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Captain Yuki Ishikawa scored key points as Japan won the first two sets 25-20, 25-23. In the third set, it led 24-21 before 2022 world champions Italy came back to win 25-27, 24-26, 15-17 in the final set.

Japan lost numerous match points along the way.

Team star Ishikawa, who had been in a slump in the group stage, led an attack in the first two sets, scoring a team-high 32 points over the match with a flurry of powerful spikes from the start.

However, Japan made service errors at key moments in the match and despite reaching a 15-14 tie in the final set, the team suffered a heartbreaking defeat.

“I feel responsible for this loss,” Ishikawa said.

Japan have learned the latest tactical trends under head coach Philippe Blain, who was also head coach of the French national team in the past. The team had momentum for the Olympics, thanks to a second place in the 2024 Nations League competition.

They have grown to the point where Japan was aiming to win the gold medal in Paris. And although Japan lost, the team showed resilience against a strong opponent, who had been honed in the three years since the Tokyo Olympics, when it finished in the top eight.

“We didn’t get the results we wanted, but we were a great team,” Ishikawa said.

Coach Blain resigns

Blain, 64, announced Monday that he will step down after the Paris Olympics.

After the match against Italy, he said that this was the last time he would lead Japan and that he was proud of the growth the team had made so far.

Blain has been national coach since 2017 and was promoted to head coach after the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.