Don't Mess With This Short Volleyball Player !!! Yuji Nishida | Monster of the Vertical Jump. Yuji Nishida (西田 有志, Nishida Yūji, born 30 January 2000) is a Japanese left-handed volleyball player. Currently Nishida plays for Panasonic Panthers at club level.

Nishida made his debut with JTEKT Stings at V.League on 6 January 2018 in a match against Osaka Blazers Sakai. His impressive debut at the young age of 17 soon earned him a position in JTEKT's Starting 6,[5] as well as Japan men's national volleyball team. Nishida led the national team to seventh place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, its best result 29 years.

Nishida was one of the youngest players in the 2018 roster of the Japan men's national volleyball team and FIVB cup Final.[6] He made his first international performance with the Japanese national team in 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League. In June 2018, he played a pivotal role in securing Japan's first win in 11 years against Italy where he collected 24 points from 21 spikes and 3 aces.[7] In September 2018, in a match against Argentina in 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, Nishida became the youngest player ever to score 30 points in a match.[8] In June 2019, Nishida broke serving records in the VNL history after hitting 7 aces in a single game during a match against Canada.[9]

Nishida transferred to play for Volley Callipo in the Italian Volleyball League for the 2021–22 season. He received MVP of the match awards thrice in spite of an injury and subsequent 2-month recovery. Nishida would become the highest scorer of his team, with a personal one-match record of 29 points, and held the record for the most aces in one match during the league's first round of the 2021/22 season with 8 aces.

Two weeks after the 2022-23 V.League season began, Nishida came down with an unknown illness which caused him to miss three weeks at the start of the season with a continuous high fever. During this time, Nishida underwent multiple medical tests which all came back inconclusive. Nishida began to wonder "Will I able to play volleyball this year with JTEKT?" as he explained in a later announcement about his extended absence from competition. Fortunately, all the symptoms gradually disappeared and Nishida was cleared play volleyball again. After his return, Nishida was able to lead his team to win the 2022 Emperor's Cup title in three straight sets against Toray Arrows.[52]

2023/24 season
It's announced that Nishida joined Panasonic Panthers for 2023/24 season.

In 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League, Nishida joined the team with 14 games. Yuji had an injury at his back which made him absent from matches against Poland. He was out of the roster and replaced by Larry Ebade-Dan in the third place match.

Awards
Individuals
2018–19 V.League 1 — Rookie of the Year[57][58][59]
2018–19 V.League 1 — Best server [60][58][59]
2019 FIVB World Cup — Best opposite spiker[61]
2019–20 V.League 1 — Most valuable player[62]
2019–20 V.League 1 — Best scorer[63]
2019–20 V.League 1 — Best server[64][65]
2019–20 V.League 1 — Best opposite spiker
2019–20 V.League 1 — Best 6
2020–21 V.League 1 — Best server[66]
2020–21 V.League 1 — V.League Japan record award player, highest score from Japanese player in the history (with 833 points)[67][68]
Club teams
2019–20 V.League 1 — Champion, with JTEKT Stings[69]
2021 Emperor's Cup — Champion, with JTEKT Stings[70][71][72]
2022 Emperor's Cup — Champion, with JTEKT Stings
Junior national team
2017 Asian Boys' U19 Volleyball Championship — Gold medal in Myanmar
National team
2019 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship — Bronze medal in Iran
2023 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship — Gold medal in Iran

Personal information
Full name Yuji Nishida
Born 30 January 2000 (age 23)
Mie, Japan
Hometown Inabe
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight 89 kg (196 lb)
Spike 350 cm (138 in)[2]
Block 335 cm (132 in)
Volleyball information
Position Opposite spiker
Current club Japan Panasonic Panthers[3]
Number 1 (national team)
11 (club)
Career
Years Teams
2017–2021 Japan JTEKT Stings
2021–2022 Italy Volley Callipo
2022–2023 Japan JTEKT Stings
2023–Present Japan Panasonic Panthers[3]
National team
2018–present Japan

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