In its final FIVB World League match of the season, Japan finally picked up its their first win, beating Germany 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 23-25, 17-15) at the Koshigaya City Gymnasium on Sunday.
This was the fourth match for Japan against the Germans in World League play, with Germany winning the other three. This was an entertaining see-saw match, thrilling the hometown Koshigaya fans who had hoped to host World League matches in 2011, but could not because of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Japan was led by Kunihiro Shimizu and Yu Koshikawa, who scored 24 and 22 points, respectively. For Germany, Marvin Prolingheuer had 22 points, a valiant effort on his 24th birthday.