The United States handed Japan their first defeat of the 2026 men's Volleyball Nations League, edging the tournament's last unbeaten side 3-2 in a gripping semi-final in Ningbo Beilun, China, on Saturday to set up a title showdown with defending champions Poland. Japan, beaten for the first time in this edition, will instead contest the bronze medal match against Slovenia on Sunday.
The Americans won 25-19, 23-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13 in front of nearly 6,000 fans at the Ningbo Beilun Sports and Arts Center, reaching the VNL final for the fourth time. Each of their three previous appearances ended in silver. Japan, meanwhile, will play the third-place playoff for the second time, having taken bronze in 2023.
The opening set started badly for the USA: Japan surged 5-2 ahead and stretched the gap to 12-9 before opposite Jake Hanes took over. The American block proved decisive and the set ended 25-19 when captain Yuki Ishikawa fired wide. Ishikawa led the fightback in set two, and although the USA saved two set points, a first-tempo kill from Larry Ik Evbade-Dan made it 25-23. Yuji Nishida then caught fire in set three, pouring in 10 points towards a 25-20 win that put Japan 2-1 up.
Trailing for the first time, the USA responded in style. Two consecutive aces from Hanes sparked a 7-5 lead, Cooper Robinson served an ace for 24-18 and Jeffrey Jendryk closed the set 25-19 to force a decider. The fifth set was a defensive masterpiece: Japan edged 12-11 through a Kento Miyaura block, but the next three points all went to the Americans — a Nishida serving error, a perfectly placed Ethan Champlin ace and a Robinson kill — before Matthew Anderson sealed the 15-13 win with a thunderous swing.
The USA dominated the key numbers: 67 kills to 57, 9 blocks to 7 and 7 aces to 2. Jake Hanes and Matt Anderson shared top-scoring honours with 24 points apiece, Hanes producing three aces and a block and Anderson adding an ace and two blocks. Japan's 19 points from Nishida, including three blocks and two aces, 18 from Ishikawa and 13 from Ran Takahashi were not enough, even though the Japanese made fewer unforced errors than their opponents, 25 against 35.
"They are a really good team and they play all aspects of the game really well, so we just had to be a tiny bit better in certain situations, and that's what we did," Anderson told VBTV. "Poland have a lot of power and a lot of guys that can come off the bench, so we have to stay at our consistent level the entire match." The bronze medal match between Slovenia and Japan starts at 15:40 local time (07:40 UTC) on Sunday, with the Poland-USA final scheduled for 19:30 (11:30 UTC).
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