Aichi to entertain Nagoya in SV.League Games of the Week

The upcoming weekend offers three men’s Daido Life SV.League double headers in Japan, highlighted by a top-calibre clash between JTEKT Stings Aichi and Wolfdogs Nagoya. The 16^th leg action is actually spread over two weeks, with one double header taking place midweek and another – on the following weekend.

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Both JTEKT Stings Aichi and Wolfdogs Nagoya are in the top half of the current standings and feature stellar line-ups, bound to produce a couple of exciting and unpredictable battles on Saturday and Sunday at the Okazaki Central Park Martial Arts Arena. Featured by the league as Games of the Week, the two matches, starting at 14:05 local time (05:05 UTC) on both days, will set the likes of Masahiro Sekita, Torey DeFalco, Ricardo Lucarelli and Kentaro Takahashi on the home team’s side of the court against the likes of Nimir Abdel-Aziz, Tine Urnaut and Kenta Takahashi across the net.

Wolfdogs Nagoya achieved two away victories over defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka last weekend to overtake them in second place on a 23-7 win-loss ratio and 69 points. They also extended their winning streak to five consecutive matches. Meanwhile, in the most shocking result last weekend, bottom-placed Voreas Hokkaido shut out JTEKT in Aichi on Sunday, extending Stings’ negative spell of nine losses over their last 11 matches. Aichi are now in fifth place on 18-12 and 48.

It will be the third double header between Aichi and Nagoya this season and the first hosted by JTEKT. Aichi won both matches of their first visit to Nagoya in October, 3-1 and 3-2, but Wolfdogs took the full six points from the two games in January to open a 13-10 lead in the overall head-to-head series between the two clubs in the history of the league.

Table leaders Osaka Bluteon will travel to Hiroshima Thunders this weekend. The first game starts at 14:05 (05:05) on Saturday and the second – at 13:05 (04:05) on Sunday. Before welcoming their opponents to the IHI Arena Kure, Hiroshima Thunders are seventh in the standings on 12-18 and 37, while Osaka Bluteon lead the pack on 25-3 and 74.

Last weekend on the road, Hiroshima managed to upset Tokyo Great Bears in one of their matches, but overall Thunders have lost six of their last eight games in the league. Meanwhile, Osaka’s winning streak has already been extended to 12 consecutive matches. The two clubs will meet for their third double header this season and the first, in which Hiroshima Thunders will play host. In the first match of their visit to Osaka Bluteon in October, they managed to stun their mighty hosts after a five-set battle. On the following day, however, as well as in their two games earlier this month, the table leaders did not allow Hiroshima to win even a single set.

The third double header this weekend will set Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers against Suntory Sunbirds Osaka. Sakai will entertain the defending champions at the Ohama Daishin Arena at 16:05 (07:05) on Saturday and at 13:05 (04:05) on Sunday. Riding the wave of a five-match winning streak, the hosts are running in sixth place on 12-16 and 37, while Suntory Sunbirds, whose nine-game victory run was interrupted last weekend by the two defeats at the hands of Wolfdogs Nagoya, stand third on 20-8 and 61. Suntory Sunbirds hosted their previous double header with Sakai in Osaka in November, winning both games – the first by 3-0 and the second by 3-2.

Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 16th leg:
Feb 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Osaka Bluteon
Feb 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Feb 15, 16:05 local (07:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Suntory Sunbirds Osaka
Feb 16, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Osaka Bluteon
Feb 16, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Suntory Sunbirds Osaka
Feb 16, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Feb 19, 19:05 local (10:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Toray Arrows Shizuoka
Feb 20, 19:05 local (10:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Toray Arrows Shizuoka
Feb 22, 13:35 local (04:35 UTC): Voreas Hokkaido v Nagano Tridents
Feb 23, 13:35 local (04:35 UTC): Voreas Hokkaido v Nagano Tridents

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