Japan defeated South Korea, taking home the bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics in the Women's Indoor Volleyball event. They earned their victory in three sets 25-22, 26-24, 25-21.
Korea put up a great fight but the Japanese women were too strong for their team. Saori Sakoda finished the match with 23 points as she had 23 spikes in the match. Risa Shinnabe scored 11 points off 11 spikes, meanwhile Saori Kimura had 9 spikes and two aces.
The Japanese team had a little catching up to do in the third set as they trailed 12-13. They went on a 7-3 run, taking the 19-16 lead and never looked back as Sakoda used her 23rd spike to put the match away.
Japan started the game out with a 4-0 lead in the first set. Korea went on a 9-5 run to tie the game up at 9, giving Japan a bit of a scare as they got back in the match. Japan regained the lead at 10-9, only to lose it as Korea scored three consecutive points grabbing the 12-10 lead.
The set went back and forth as Japan estalished a one point advantage, followed by Korea tying things up. With the score 19-19, Japan went on a 6-3 run to close out the set for the 1-0 lead in the match.
The Japanese squad took their first set momentum into the second set as they started the set with five consecutive points. Their five-point lead increased to seven as they held the 8-1 advantage. Korea trailed consistently in the match, but closed the gap to two points as they made the score 16-15 after a 14-8 run. Japan regained a three-point lead late in the set for the 22-19 advantage. Korea went on a 5-2 run to tie the match at 26, but lost the final two games as Japan took the set 26-24.
