Japanese women's volleyball team continuously causes shock despite being the lowest in the world tournament

(Dan Tri) - The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) homepage has given many compliments to the performance of the Japanese women's volleyball team when they reached the semi-finals of the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Championship.

"Japan have secured their first semi-final berth at the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Championship in Thailand. They overcame a spirited Netherlands in the quarter-finals, going through five dramatic sets before winning," Volleyball World - the FIVB's home page - commented on the Japanese women's team's shocking victory over the Netherlands in the quarter-finals on September 3.

Despite having the lowest average height in the tournament, the Japanese team made it to the semi-finals with impressive victories (Photo: Volleyball World).

The victory of the Japanese team impressed many volleyball fans around the world, as the team from the Land of the Rising Sun had the lowest average height in the tournament, even lower than the Vietnamese women's volleyball team.

According to statistics, the average height of the Japanese women's team is only 174.1cm, lower than the three Asian teams of Thailand, Vietnam and China. The Vietnamese women's volleyball team, despite Bich Tuyen's withdrawal, still has an average height of 176.8cm (with Bich Tuyen, it would be 178cm).

As for the host Thailand, their average height is also 177cm. Meanwhile, the Chinese team has the tallest average height in the tournament, with 189.9cm (following China is Poland with 189.5cm, Brazil is 188.5cm and the US is 188cm).

However, the Japanese team continuously caused shocks in this tournament, when they excellently surpassed the defending champion Serbia - a team that has won two consecutive titles and has an average height of 186cm. Then, they continued to beat the host Thailand to make their name in the quarter-finals and beat the Netherlands to win a place in the semi-finals.

Striker Mayu Ishikawa scored 25 points for the home team in the match against the Netherlands despite being only 174 cm tall (Photo: Volleyball World).

Japan doesn’t have any stars who are 190cm tall. Instead, they have only two players who are 185cm tall, and three liberos who are over 160cm tall. Interestingly, Japan outperformed the Netherlands in net scoring in the quarter-finals.

"Japan dominated the Netherlands mainly in attack, with 75 points, compared to only 61 points from the Netherlands' main players. Main player Yukiko Wada led the way with a match-high 27 points, including 4 of the team's 7 aces," FIVB praised the strong attacking ability of the Japanese volleyball team.

Notably, despite scoring the most points in the match, main striker Yukiko Wada only has a modest height of 174 cm. Another main striker and captain of the Japanese team, Mayu Ishikawa also brought home 25 points for the home team and has a similar height to Yukiko Wada.

Yukiko Wada is only 174 cm tall but scored the most points in the match with 27 points (Photo: Volleyball World).

"Like every other match, this match was really difficult for us, but we just focused on winning step by step. We really enjoy the passion of volleyball on the court and that has contributed to our success so far,

We really enjoyed the support from the stands. When the fans cheered for each of our points, we felt they were with us and this contributed to our motivation and energy on the field," Yukiko Wada shared after her team's victory and booking their place in the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, the Japanese women's volleyball team will face the world's number one team, Italy.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/tuyen-nu-bong-chuyen-nhat-ban-lien-tiep-gay-soc-du-thap-nhat-giai-the-gioi-20250904180323136.htm