Defending champions and table leaders Suntory Sunbirds Osaka have already booked their spot in the playoffs, and are now just two points away from securing one of the two direct tickets to the semifinals, granted to the top two teams of the regular season. They will try to achieve that this weekend, but it will not be an easy task as they host third-placed Wolfdogs Nagoya, who are yet to guarantee themselves advancement to the quarterfinals. This may potentially happen this weekend, but it will depend on the outcome of other matches as well. Suntory Sunbirds are on top of the current standings on a 31-3 win-loss ratio and 90 points. Nagoya stand on 21-13 and 61 in third place. This upcoming clash is a remake of one of last year’s best-of-three semifinals, when the club from Osaka came back from a loss in the first match to advance to the final. That was the last time Sunbirds lost to Wolfdogs. This season, they have already beaten them four times on the road, the first three by 3-1 and the last one by 3-2. The games this weekend at the Ookini Arena Maishima will serve off at 13:05 local time (04:05 UTC) on Saturday and Sunday.
In another high-profile match-up, JTEKT Stings Aichi will entertain Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers at the Okazaki Central Park Gymnasium on Saturday and Sunday at 14:05 (05:05). Aichi, currently in fourth place on 20-14 and 58, will qualify for the playoffs, if they win both of these games against Sakai, who are running just below the cur-off line, in seventh place on 13-21 and 39. Stings brought home the full six points, when they visited Blazers in November, but when Blazers paid back the visit in January, the teams engaged in two five-set battles, splitting the victories.
Voreas Hokkaido and Hiroshima Thunders will open the weekend on Friday at 13:05 (04:05) and will follow up with another match on Saturday at the same time. The Hakodate Salmon Marunama Arena will welcome this double header. The visitors from Hiroshima are hanging on to the edge of the playoff zone in the table, in sixth place on 15-19 and 47, while their hosts from Hokkaido are two positions below them, in eighth place on 10-24 and 31. It will be the third double header between the two teams this season. In November, Thunders swept both matches at home in straight sets. Voreas retaliated with two shutouts of their opponents at home in February.
