Nishida achieves a historic double milestone, Japan wins all matches in Week 1 of VNL 2026

Having missed the national team for a year, Yuji Nishida quickly shone brilliantly.

The Japanese men's volleyball team continues to demonstrate impressive form at the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2026 by defeating Slovenia 3-1 in the final match of the first competition week held in Linyi, China. This victory not only helped Japan maintain a perfect record after four matches but also marked two historic milestones for the opposite hitter star Yuji Nishida.

In the matchup against the reigning VNL runners-up, Japan had an unfavorable start, losing narrowly 25-27 in the opening set. However, their composure and consistency allowed the Land of the Rising Sun to quickly regain control and win three consecutive sets with scores of 25-16, 25-22, and 25-22.

The major contributor to Japan's victory was again Yuji Nishida. Before the match, the 2000-born spiker needed only 6 more points to reach the 1,000-point milestone in the VNL. Living up to expectations, Nishida scored 17 points, thereby increasing his career total in the tournament to 1,011 points.

Not stopping there, Japan's top opposite also completed the milestone of 100 aces in the VNL. Three aces against Slovenia raised his tally to 102 points, ranking second in the list of the most effective servers in the tournament's history. Nishida now trails the leader, Nimir Abdel-Aziz of the Netherlands, by 29 points.

In this match, Nishida scored 13 points from attacks with a 50% success rate, along with 1 block point and 3 aces. With 1,011 points, he currently ranks third on the all-time scoring list in VNL history, behind compatriot Yuki Ishikawa (1,073 points) and Nimir Abdel-Aziz (1,012 points).

Alongside Nishida, captain Yuki Ishikawa also delivered an outstanding performance, scoring 23 points including 3 aces. Ran Takahashi contributed 16 points, while middle blocker Akihiro Yamauchi added 10 points.

The victory over Slovenia not only helped Japan conclude the first week of competition with a perfect record but also allowed the team to surpass the same opponent to rise to fifth place in the FIVB world rankings.