World No. 1 Poland reasserted its mastery over top seed Japan, 25-17, 25-19, 25-18, in the Week 3 of the men’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) on Sunday night, July 9, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The world’s best Poland now shares a similar 10-2 record in the standings with Japan, which still holds the top seed due to superior set ratio.

World No. 1 Poland dominates Japan in straight sets. (Volleyball World)

Wilfredo Leon powered the Poles with 16 points on 10 attacks, three blocks and three service aces, while Lukasz Kaczmarek and Aleksander Sliwka contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Poland, which hasn’t been beaten by Japan in all their international clashes, was aggressive from the start until the endgame.

Tied at 8-all in the second set, Norbert Huber put the Poles ahead of the Japanese with three consecutive service aces, effectively demoralizing the top seed in the process.

From then on, Poland consistently held the advantage and refused to let Japan equalize en route to a two sets to none lead.

The Poles remained on top of the Japanese and jumped to a telling 18-10 lead in the third set, and cruised to the straight-set victory.

Both teams are already through the finals phase which will be staged in Poland from July 19 to 24.

If the third seed USA beats Bulgaria, Japan will tackle seventh seed Slovenia in the quarterfinals.

Tatsunori Otsuka was the lone bright spot for the Japanese team with 11 points as Yuji Nishida and skipper Yuki Ishikawa were held to nine and seven points, respectively.