TOKYO – Japan remained undefeated and clinched first place in Pool H at the women’s volleyball world championships in Thailand with a stunning 3-1 upset of two-time defending champion Serbia on Wednesday.
Skipper Mayu Ishikawa top-scored with 19 points and fellow outside hitter Yukiko Wada had 15 for head coach Ferhat Akbas’ team in the 25-23, 30-28, 23-25, 25-18 victory at Bangkok’s Huamark Indoor Stadium.
Both already through to the knockout stage, the two unbeaten nations were playing for top spot in the pool and a more favorable round-of-16 matchup.
Outside hitter Aleksandra Uzelac tallied a match-high 20 points for a Serbian team missing team captain and opposite Tijana Boskovic, who left Monday’s win over Cameroon with an ankle injury.
Having taken the opening set, Japan fell behind in the second before Wada, Ishikawa and outside hitter Yoshino Sato led a fightback to clinch the set and go up 2-0 via a tiebreaker.
Going into the fourth up 2-1, Japan established a buffer early in the set and held onto the lead.
Japan, which also beat Cameroon and Ukraine in pool play, will face host Thailand in the round of 16 on Friday, with Serbia to battle the Netherlands.