Osaka Bluteon are about to become the second team with a safe spot in the playoffs. The 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship silver medalists will welcome Toray Arrows Shizuoka to the Ookini Arena Maishima on Saturday and Sunday at 18:05 (09:05). Bluteon are second in the table on 24-6 and 71, and even two points from the two matches this weekend will guarantee them a top-six regular season finish. Toray Arrows are also among the candidates for quarterfinal tickets. They occupy eighth place on 10-20 and 30, and a lower set ratio than Sakai. In this match-up, it has also been over three years since Toray Arrows last beat Osaka in the league. In their previous double header in November, Bluteon hammered out two straight-set away wins.
A clash between two teams from within the playoff zone will also be in the spotlight this weekend. Wolfdogs Nagoya, running on a six-match winning streak, in third place on 19-11 and 56, will visit Hiroshima Thunders, standing sixth on 13-17 and 40, at the Hiroshima Green Arena. Saturday’s game will serve off at 14:05 (05:05), while Sunday’s fixture is set to start at 13:05 (04:05). When Nagoya hosted Hiroshima in October, they traded wins. Thunders won the first meeting in five sets. Wolfdogs retaliated with a straight-set sweep of the second.
Fourth-placed JTEKT Stings Aichi will play at home this weekend. They will entertain Voreas Hokkaido at the Okazaki Central Park Gymnasium at 14:05 (05:05) on both competition days. Aichi stand on 18-12 and 52, while Voreas are second from the bottom, in 10th place on 9-21 and 28, also aiming at the playoff spots. It will be the third double header between the two teams this season. Voreas hosted the previous two in October and January. They won the first match in four sets, but lost the next three – 3-0, 3-2 and 3-0 JTEKT Stings’ way.
Fifth-placed Tokyo Great Bears will play on the road, travelling to Nagano Tridents. The matches will be played at the Air Water Arena Matsumoto at 14:05 (05:05) on Saturday and at 13:05 (04:05) on Sunday. The team from the capital is on 15-15 and 44, while Nagano are on a negative streak of 23 consecutive defeats in the league and trail bottom, stuck in 10th place on 3-27 and 15, but still with a mathematical shot at the playoffs. Great Bears have already collected four wins over Tridents this season – 3-2 and 3-0 at home in November, and 3-1 and 3-1 away in December.
