USA and Japan met in a friendly match on 27 July in Tustin, California. The two teams have been playing practice games for the past week in preparation for the FIVB World Championship. On Fridya night, the open to the public match, Japan beat USA by 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-15) .
USA head coach Karch Kiraly did not use his main players. Larson, Hill, Akinradewo and Lloyd were left out of the friendly. The game was highlighted by the return of two Olympian opposite spiker: Karsta Lowe (USA) and Miyu Nagaoka (JPN). Lowe returns to the national team after two years, finishing her master’s degree while Nagaoka was recovering from a serious knee injury suffered in early 2017. The two attackers were even the highest scorers in the game, Lowe made 18 for the USA (47%) and Nagaoka scored 16 points in two sets (54% of achievement).
Friendly Match- Japan vs United States 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-15)
JPN: Nagaoka (16), Araki (4), Ishii (5), Tominaga (1), Nabeya (6), Okumura (6) and Inoue (L). SUB: Koga (11), Iwasaka (2), Shinnabe (6), Kurogo (12), Tashiro (2) and Kobata (L). They did not enter: Nomoto, Sato and Shimamura.
USA: Hancock (7), Adams (8), Kingdon (16), Courtney (5), Lowe (18), Ogbogu (7) and Benson (L). SUB: Wilhite (7), Tapp (1), Courtney (as Lib). They did not enter: Carlini, Drews, Whitney, Wopat and Lee.
Source: To fly volleyball
