Japan overwhelmed Australia, 25-4, 25-11, 25-15, to complete a three-match sweep of Pool B in the AVC Cup for Women preliminaries Thursday at the Philsports Arena.
Yuki Nishikawa, who had three service aces and two blocks to finish with 18 points, was delighted to help the Japanese in sweeping all of their group matches.
“We had little time to prepare for this competition with this team. But we did pretty great and I’m so happy for it,” said Nishikawa through an interpreter.
Despite her 16-point outing, which included six service aces, Mizuki Tanaka downplayed her performance in the Pool B finale.
“Today wasn’t my best, but we were able to win this game. That was really great,” said Tanaka, through an interpreter.
Japan, which has yet to drop a set in the competition, will face the No. 4 team in Pool A in the quarterfinals starting Saturday.
Aside from Nishikawa and Tanaka, Miyu Nakagawa and Hawi Okumu, the daughter of former University of the Philippines coach Godfrey, also played a huge role in the Japanese’ dominant first-set showing.
Khiani Garton-Dodd topscored for the Volleyroos with seven points, while Tessa Browne chipped in three points.
Australia went winless in Pool B, which went down to four teams following Kazakhstan’s late withdrawal. The Volleyroos will play the top-ranked squad in Pool A in the quarters also on Saturday.