Volleyball star Takeshita opts to skip 2012-13 season

Japan national team setter Yoshie Takeshita will sit out the 2012-13 volleyball season, choosing to rest after a busy campaign in which she juggled Olympic and club team duties.

The 34-year-old from Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, will not play for the JT Marvelous club team as she takes time off. Fatigue has been a factor for her throughout the past season.

Takeshita, a three-time Olympian, helped Japan capture a bronze medal at the 2012 London Summer Games. It was the Japan women's first medal in Olympic competition since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

For her, it was a thrilling achievement.

"We think that we all individually worked hard and believed in ourselves," Takeshita said after Japan defeated South Korea to finish third in London. "That made the difference today. It was not only the setting, we all played well.

"The Olympic medal is the best moment of all."

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