Aichi and Tokyo exchange five-set victories

While Suntory Sunbirds Osaka took the full six points from their double header with Osaka Bluteon in the big clash of the men’s Daido Life SV.League in Japan this weekend, both battles between JTEKT Stings Aichi and Tokyo Great Bears were greatly contested and resolved in fifth-set tie-breakers.

• Watch Japan's SV.League on VBTV.

Tokyo Great Bears celebrated the victory on Saturday. In a rollercoaster match, they overcame their hosts and beat them by a hard-fought 3-2 (18-25, 25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 15-10). Portuguese striker Alexandre Ferreira was Tokyo’s leading scorer with 26 points, including three aces and two kill blocks, while JTEKT Stings Aichi’s American opposite Torey DeFalco hammered out a match-high 37 points, including two aces and a kill block.

On Sunday, Aichi got back at Tokyo with a 3-2 (33-31, 17-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-10) win. Ferreira (three aces, four kill blocks) and DeFalco (two kill blocks) shared the top scorer honours with 27 points apiece. After these results, the two teams continue to be very close neighbors in the current standings. Great Bears are running fourth on a 20-16 win-loss ratio and 63 points. JTEKT Stings are right behind them, in fourth place on 20-16 and 54. Both are well on their way to the playoffs, but have yet to qualify mathematically.

In a remake of last year’s gold medal showdown, defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka celebrated two three-point victories at home over runners-up and current table leaders Osaka Bluteon. On Saturday, Suntory Sunbirds hammered out an emphatic 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-19) shutout of Blueton with a match-high 22 points from Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy, including four kill blocks and an ace. On Sunday, the visitors managed to win the second set, but took home no points, as Muserskiy led his team again to a 3-1 (25-20, 26-28, 25-21, 25-19) victory. He impressed with four aces and four kill blocks to top the charts with a total of 27 points. Well over six thousand fans attended each of the two games at the Ookini Arena Maishima. Suntory Sunbirds improved to 26-8 and 78 in third place. Bluteon remained on top of the table, on 29-5 and 85, but now second-placed Wolfdogs Nagoya are really close behind.

Wolfdogs Nagoya improved to 29-7 and 85 after two away wins over Voreas Hokkaido. In the first match, they claimed the three points with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 23-25, 25-16) victory, with Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz leading the way with 24 points, including four aces. In the second, however, Nagoya were pushed to five sets and had to come back from a set down before emerging with a 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-10) win. Nimir was once again the best scorer of the match with a total of 30 points. Voreas remained bottom, in 10^th place on 4-30 and 19.

In the race for the remaining playoff vacancies, Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers and Toray Arrows Shizuoka exchanged three-point victories. Led by Canadian opposite Sharone Vernon-Evans with 16 points, hosts Sakai won the first game in straight sets, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-18). His Brazilian counterpart Alan Souza did one better and topped the match charts with 17. Alan delivered a match-high 23 points towards Toray Arrows’ 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 25-17) win on Sunday. Sakai stayed within the playoff zone, in sixth place on 14-20 and 44, while Toray Arrows are two spots below them, in eighth place on 10-24 and 30.

In between them, very close behind Sakai, Hiroshima Thunders stand seventh on 14-22 and 44. They declared their firm intentions to fight for a quarterfinal berth with two home wins over Nagano Tridents this weekend. On Saturday, Hiroshima mastered a 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-19) sweep, led by outside hitters Oreol Camejo of Cuba and captain Yudai Arai with 13 points each, while Nagano’s Danish opposite Ulrik Dahl put away a match-high 15 points. The hosts followed up with another emphatic shutout on Sunday, 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-18), with 19 points from Brazilian opposite Felipe Roque, while Dahl topped the charts again with 20. Nagano stand second from the bottom, in ninth place on 8-26 and 20.

Another full set of five double headers will be played next weekend, on Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16.

Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 19th leg:
Mar 15, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Mar 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Nagano Tridents v Voreas Hokkaido
Mar 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Mar 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Bluteon v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Mar 15, 15:08 local (06:08 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Suntory Sunbirds Osaka
Mar 16, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Mar 16, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nagano Tridents v Voreas Hokkaido
Mar 16, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Mar 16, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Bluteon v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Mar 16, 14:08 local (05:08 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Suntory Sunbirds Osaka

Quick links:
Japanese SV.League - men
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter