Astemo secure the last spot in the playoffs

With two weeks left in the regular season, Astemo Rivale Ibaraki claimed the eighth and last spot in the 2024-2025 women’s Daido Life SV.League playoffs, completing the lineup of teams that will appear in the Japanese League’s postseason.

With 22 victories and 20 losses and just two more matches to play before the end of the regular season, Astemo will make it to the postseason in eighth place and have league leaders Osaka Marvelous, who confirmed the top seed for the playoffs this week, as their opponents in the quarterfinals.

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Hosting bottom-placed Gunma Green Wings for back-to-back matches this weekend, Astemo were in a great spot to confirm their presence in the postseason, which they did on Saturday, with a strong 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 27-25) victory. Outside hitter Fuyumi Hawi Okumu Oba led the team with 17 points, one more than American middle blocker Brionne Butler.

The teams met again on Sunday and this time Gunma prevailed, winning 3-2 (25-21, 11-25, 20-25, 25-15, 15-7), with Moldovan opposite Aliona Martiniuc leading the way with 21 points, including four blocks.

“It’s frustrating that we couldn’t win our last regular season match at home,” said Astemo’s head coach Hirohiro Nakatami. “We secured our spot in the playoffs on Saturday, but we still have a lot to accomplish. We will give our best in our two last regular-season matches and will fight to win both.”

Osaka clinch first place

The 22^nd leg of the regular season also saw Osaka get to 33 wins and seven losses and confirm the top spot ahead of the playoffs. The team confirmed its position with back-to-back road wins over sixth-placed Saitama Ageo Medics.

Osaka counted on 25 points from Belgian opposite Lise Van Hecke to triumph 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20) on Saturday and secured another four-set (25-18, 25-20, 16-25, 25-22) victory on Sunday, this time with outside hitter Kotona Hayashi as their leading scorer with 19 points.

Another exciting matchup over the weekend was when second-placed NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki hosted third-placed Denso Airybees Koriyama. The teams split wins, with NEC triumphing 3-1 (28-26, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16) on Saturday and Denso prevailing also in four sets (27-29, 25-15, 26-24, 25-17) on Sunday. With that, the teams kept their spots – NEC have 30 wins and 12 losses, while Denso have 28 victories and 14 upsets.

Fourth-placed Saga Hisamitsu Springs took advantage of the results to close the gap and now also have 28 wins and 14 losses. They defeated 12^th-placed Okayama Seagulls twice on the road this week, winning 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-7) on Saturday and 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-22) on Sunday.

Fifth-placed Toray Arrows Shiga returned home with a win and a loss after a pair of matches against tenth-placed PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku. They started the weekend with a 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 25-19, 15-12) win, but fell 3-1 (25-23, 27-25, 18-25, 26-24) in the second encounter.

Also guaranteed in the playoffs, the seventh-placed Victorina Himeji had a smooth ride against 13^th-placed Aranmare Yamagata. Playing at home, the team won 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-19) on Saturday and repeated the score line on Sunday, with another sweep (25-21, 25-20, 27-25).

The last doubleheader of the weekend saw ninth-placed Queenseis Kariya beat 11^th-placed Kurobe Aqua Fairies twice on the road, prevailing 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 18-25, 25-18) on Saturday and winning 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-22) on Sunday.

Next week, seven doubleheaders will be held during the 23^rd of the regular season, with matches taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

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