Japan Women's NT 2022

    Quote from Raf

    I agree I just don't see it with Sato. I wonder which tournament Manabe watched that he was so convinced she has what it takes. We thought she'd be an Ebata but she's not even close to Nabeya in her early years.

    Being a big fan of Yoshino Sato myself, I'm puzzled too. Confidence is like the #1 thing you need to have at the international level and she hasn't shown even a little bit of it. But I don't think Manabe just watched a tournament and made a decision. It's gotta be more what he sees in the gym?


    She's a confident and pretty dominant player in college. And she's a complete all-arounder: serve, block, receive, back attack. She's got the chops to get there if she gets her heart and mind in gear. She's only an average Japanese defender, though

    Ironically when Hayashi competed at AVC she never flourished. I'm not sure at what point before VNL last year did she actually develop a new style. No one ever paid any attention to her at JT because Drews took care of the offense. I wonder if Annie had some impact on her.


    Unfortunately for Osanai it's the opposite in which she was only really able to shine during AVC

    Airi played as little as Fuyumi Hawi during VNL but she still somehow made it automatically to the WC draft while still "adjusting" to the Japanese style again and what about her sister? no seriously what about her sister? what is she good at?

    Their last match with Brazil was a close fight but in the end they still lost. There are still a lot of holes in Manabe's strategy.

    I recently rewatched a couple of Tsukuba games and paid attention to Yoshino now, and I now like her. I hope she develops further. I still wonder what she showed in the training to be a starter in their first match and key player in the final round, but I like her for the future :lol:

    Quote from volleyb

    I recently rewatched a couple of Tsukuba games and paid attention to Yoshino now, and I now like her. I hope she develops further. I still wonder what she showed in the training to be a starter in their first match and key player in the final round, but I like her for the future :lol:

    She reminds me of Koga, technique-wise, but doesn't have Sarina's mental game at all


    Another Tsukuba player I thought had the template NT style soft arms, defense, and "graciousness in attack" is Hina Kawakami :S


    Oops

    Quote from Playmaker

    Phoenix cutie libero talking about ugajin. i don't know what she's saying but she is cute lol. in the last part there's 3 of them but i don't know who the other one is

    Chihiro Sasaki MB from Himeji

    WC HINT HINT


    The girls will appear in the same show where the London squad first had their Pre-Tokyo reunion with Manabe. This will be their first official public appearance on a variety show. We can all look forward to Mayu's deep deadpan voice to entertain us lot during this program.


    No date set yet but most likely during WC.


    I think it may have been Miyashita's decision to give up her spot (again). I don't see it as Manabe's decision but her own. If she were really determined to play for this team I'm sure Manabe would give her a chance considering he hasn't dropped Yamagishi and Uchiseto yet. It's sad but I think we may not ever see her in the NT again after this.

    Quote from gkv

    I think it may have been Miyashita's decision to give up her spot (again). I don't see it as Manabe's decision but her own. If she were really determined to play for this team I'm sure Manabe would give her a chance considering he hasn't dropped Yamagishi and Uchiseto yet. It's sad but I think we may not ever see her in the NT again after this.

    Miyashita has been a mystery since after 2019. Fans speculated that she had some sort of conflict with Nakada or Nakada simply did not like her which isn't true. Perhaps it's always been Miyashita who wasn't really showing any kind of fighting spirit or what the Japanese call "GUTS" maybe Manabe sensed that too or Miyashita herself withdrew voluntarily

    Quote from 777

    Miyashita has been a mystery since after 2019. Fans speculated that she had some sort of conflict with Nakada or Nakada simply did not like her which isn't true. Perhaps it's always been Miyashita who wasn't really showing any kind of fighting spirit or what the Japanese call "GUTS" maybe Manabe sensed that too or Miyashita herself withdrew voluntarily

    It's possible that she did withdraw despite Manabe's encouragement but it has nothing to do with her not having any fighting spirit rather due to her history of severe anxiety that's impossible for her to control. There's no reason for Manabe to force her since he still has other options.

    Miyashita is a total tsundere. Her only 2 intense emotional states are crying and glaring. You definitely won't sense fighting spirit from her because that's just not her thing.


    But I agree that it may be her mental state that's holding her back and maybe she's not willing to take anymore of that emotional rollercoaster for a team she's not entirely sure about if she has to carry another team again as the main setter. I mean Miyashita refuses to be Okayama's captain so that's also telling...

    I enjoyed getting to watch Momii again today in the Intrasquad. Hayashi is the best player in today's game in my opinion. She is really good this year. Among the new additions, Ameze and Fukudome performed ok, but I didn't feel Asano's presence :lol:


    Here is the list of who played per team, per set (OH, OH, Opp, MB, MB, S, L and sub)


    Set 1: Team 2 won 26-24

    team 1: Koga, Sato, Ishikawa, Shimamura, Yokota, Seki, Yamagishi (sub Airi)

    team 2: Inoue, Ameze, Hayashi, Yamada, Ogawa, Matsui, Fukudome


    Set 2: Team 1 won 25-21

    team 1: Koga, Inoue, Sato, Ogawa, Asano, Matsui, Uchiseto (sub Fukudome)

    team 2: Ishikawa, Airi, Hayashi, Shimamura, Yokota, Momii, Kojima (sub Ameze)


    Set 3: Team 1 won 26-24

    team 1: Koga, Ishikawa, Hayashi, Yokota, Asano, Momii, Fukudome (sub: Shimamura)

    team 2: Airi, Ameze, Uchiseto, Yamada, Ogawa, Sekii, Yamagishi (sub: Sato)

    Quote from volleyb

    Ameze [...]performed ok

    How would you compare the Miyabe sisters? I know the contexts I've seen them in are quite different but to my eyes Ameze seems like a much more aggressive attacker. She's shorter than Airi but might jump higher. And for Manabe, Ameze has a better serve. Airi has that USA serve


    I wonder about Ameze adjusting to big pants. She was gosh awful in the Legendary U20 Championships. Looked scared to death. She's a confident player in University, but so is Yoshino Sato