JTEKT Stings stung at home, Osaka Bluteon return to top in Japan

JTEKT Stings Aichi were stunned in one of their home matches of the 10^th leg in Japan’s men’s Daido Life SV.League and lost their leadership. Osaka Bluteon took advantage to return to the top of the current standings. In what was probably the most interesting clash of the leg, Suntory Sunbirds Osaka and Wolfdogs Nagoya exchanged victories and did not cause any other movements in the table.

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On Saturday, JTEKT Stings Aichi achieved a 3-1 (24-26, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22) victory in the first match of their home double header against Hiroshima Thunders. Opposite Kento Miyaura was the best scorer of the match with 25 points, including two aces. American outside hitter Torey DeFalco added another 18 points, while Hiroshima were led by Brazilian opposite Felipe Roque with 22. On Sunday, however, the visitors produced a 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 28-30, 18-25, 15-11) upset. Roque spearheaded the team with 35 points, including two aces and two kill blocks. Captain Yudai Arai chipped in with another 21 points towards Hiroshima’s victory. On the other side of the net, Miyaura was on fire again and put away four aces and three kill blocks towards a total tally of 33 points.

“It was a very tough match, but I am proud of the players, who kept fighting until the very end without losing their mentality,” said Hiroshima’s Argentinean head coach Carlos Weber.

After these results, Aichi dropped to second place on a 16-4 win-loss ratio and 42 points, while Hiroshima remained in sixth place on 8-12 and 24.

Wolfdogs Nagoya made sure they kept their third position with a hard-fought 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 17-15) comeback victory over their hosts Suntory Sunbirds Osaka in Sunday’s first fixture of their double header. Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz led the way with 36 points, including three aces and two blocks, for the winners. Outside Taito Mizumachi added another 22. Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy delivered an impressive tally of six aces, four kill blocks and 21 successful spikes towards a 31-point total for Suntory. In the leg’s closing match on Monday, however, the defending champions took their revenge with a 3-1 (25-16, 27-25, 22-25, 25-18) win, improving to 12-6 and 37 in fourth place. They are still right below Nagoya, who stand third on 14-6 and 42. Muserskiy (five blocks, one ace) and Nimir (four blocks, two aces) shared the top scorer honours of the match with 28 points each.

Osaka Bluteon left little room for surprises in their home double header against bottom-placed Voreas Hokkaido, played on Friday and Saturday. They took the full six points despite dropping a set in the second match and climbed back up to the first place on 15-3 and 45, while Voreas are stuck to the bottom, in 10^th place on 1-17 and 7. Opposite Yuji Nishida led Osaka to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-18) sweep of the first match with 15 points, while Cuban outside Miguel Lopez was the team’s best scorer in the 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-16) victory on Saturday with 16 points.

Table neighbours Toray Arrows Shizuoka and Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers beat each other once to keep their eighth place (on 5-13 and 15) and seventh place (on 7-11 and 23) in the standings, respectively. On Saturday, the visitors from Sakai claimed a 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-22) win with a 29-point match high from Canadian opposite Sharone Vernon-Evans, but on Sunday, the home team reacted with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-19, 15-8) victory, led by outside Daiki Yamada with 23 points.

Tokyo Great Bears swept both matches of their double header at Nagano Tridents, but the home team did not surrender without a fight. Outside Rikuto Goto and Polish opposite Maciej Muzaj contributed 15 points each towards Tokyo’s hard-earned 3-0 (30-28, 33-31, 25-18) victory on Saturday. Portuguese outside Alexandre Ferreira was the winners’ best scorer in Sunday’s 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-19) shutout with 12 points. Tokyo stand fifth on 12-8 and 37, while Nagano are second from the bottom, in ninth place on 4-14 and 10.

SV.League action will resume in 2025 with the 11^th leg to be played from January 3 to 5.

Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 11th leg:
Jan 03, 13:35 local (04:35 UTC): Voreas Hokkaido v Tokyo Great Bears
Jan 04, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Toray Arrows Shizuoka
Jan 04, 13:35 local (04:35 UTC): Voreas Hokkaido v Tokyo Great Bears
Jan 04, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Bluteon v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Jan 04, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Hiroshima Thunders
Jan 04, 15:35 local (06:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Nagano Tridents
Jan 05, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Toray Arrows Shizuoka
Jan 05, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Hiroshima Thunders
Jan 05, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Bluteon v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Jan 05, 14:35 local (05:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Nagano Tridents

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