Outside hitter Sasipaporn Janthawisut was the top scorer for the Thai team with 14 points (13 kills, 1 block) while Pimpichaya Kokram had 11 points (all kills), reports the Bangkok Post.
Opposite spiker Jordan Thompson led the US attack with 17 points (12 kills, 4 blocks, 1 ace) and outside hitter Avery Skinner chipped in 13 points (all kills) as the Americans cruised to their eighth win of the tournament and remained on top of the standings with 23 points.
The Thais, who are involved in a race to avoid relegation in the decisive week in the Japanese city, suffered their seventh loss of this year’s campaign and remain in 14th place in the 18-team standings.
The team finishing last after the conclusion of this week’s competition will lose their spot in the VNL 2027, being replaced by the best-ranked national team in the FIVB World Rankings that didn’t participate in the event this season.
Thailand will have another tough match today when they take on hosts Japan before facing Brazil on Saturday and Turkey on Sunday.
The seven best teams in the preliminary phase will join hosts China in the VNL Finals, which will be held in Macao from July 22-26.