USA captain Carli Lloyd: We’re very, very happy with this win. Our opponents are an amazing team and played a great match. I’m proud of our patience and it took a lot of patience with long rallies and a lot of problem solving to win this one. I think it’s a wonderful experience to be in a gym with such positive energy and you can tell all the fans just love volleyball. I was just grateful to be there because this doesn’t happen all the time. And the spirit of that team across the net and how they just don’t give up and have such a long tradition of volleyball and being a part of all that was very special for us.
USA coach Karch Kiraly: We love playing Japan in Japan. It is a tremendous volleyball atmosphere and very few things are like that on the planet, so it’s always an honour to play in a match like this against a team with such an incredible fighting spirit. But I’m also proud of our fighting spirit. I knew it would take a lot and some smart play to beat a very fine team. It was a battle and really hard-fought, and those are great matches.
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Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesJapan coach Kumi Nakada: Being able to take the match to full sets was good but the Americans always had the ability to respond to us and contain us. The way we scored was kind of desperate really. We were always under pressure. We got to five sets but only just. When playing against top teams, we see they always respond to what we’re doing very quickly, while we still haven’t managed to adjust to them after they’ve adjusted to us. This will only be possible through experience and playing in such big games before a big audience is the best way to help us grow as a team, so we shouldn’t waste this opportunity. My players are getting used to facing the world’s best first-hand and I want them to feel this on the court and make progress.
Japan player Koyomi Tominaga: The Americans were tall and very powerful and their block was very good. They were also technically good and strong. We showed how we could play in the first set and I think we could have won the match. Some things worked well and that makes it even more regrettable that we didn’t win. The quality of my setting could have been better and that would have helped our attackers a lot. I failed to use the middle effectively and I think we could have been more proactive. Tomorrow, we play another team with high blocking but we shouldn’t be afraid of that.
Japan player Mami Uchiseto: USA have great blocking but Japan’s speed and quick attack worked well. However, we couldn’t win and we need to refresh our minds before tomorrow’s match against another strong opponent.
Japan player Yurie Nabeya: Today was a game we could have won, I think. There were many good aspects but many points where we should have scored but didn’t. I think my spiking was too easy for them. I could have made better angles and been more daring instead of hitting to the middle and giving them chances.