Unstoppable Suntory celebrate two wins in Aichi

Suntory Sunbirds Osaka consolidated in first place in the men’s volleyball Daido Life SV.League in Japan after winning both of their matches at third-placed JTEKT Stings Aichi this weekend. In all four double headers of the 14^th leg, the visiting teams did not allow their hosts to collect any points.

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In the big clash of the week, Suntory Sunbirds Osaka lived up to their status of defending champions and table leaders and celebrated two four-set road victories at JTEKT Stings Aichi. They improved to a 25-1 win-loss ratio and 72 points on top of the current standings, while Aichi are running in third place on 16-10 and 46. In the first game at the Okazaki Central Park Gymnasium on Saturday, in front of 3,762 spectators, Suntory Sunbirds achieved a 3-1 (25-14, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20) win. Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy was the best scorer of the match with 31 points to his name. He spiked 25 at a 58% success rate, raised five kill blocks and fired an ace towards his team’s success. Suntory Sunbirds won the second match with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 27-25, 25-19) comeback from a set down in front of 3,730 fans in the stands. Once again, Muserskiy was above all, with 28 points, including one ace and one kill block.

Osaka Bluteon brought home the full six points from their visit to Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers and improved to 22-4 and 64 in second place. Sakai dropped a spot to eighth place on 8-18 and 24. On Saturday, with 3,705 spectators at the venue, Bluteon got the job done in three tough sets, 3-0 (28-26, 25-20, 29-27), with a match-high 16 points from opposite and captain Yuji Nishida. Two of the sets were pushed to overtime on Sunday as well, and the home team was even able to claim a set in front of 3,676 fans, but the three points went to the visitors again, 3-1 (25-21, 31-29, 22-25, 28-26). Nishida led the team again, this time with 19 points, including one ace. Sakai’s Italian outside hitter Tommaso Rinaldi impressed with five serving aces and a block towards a match-high 27 points.

Wolfdogs Nagoya also brought home two three-point victories from their trip to Voreas Hokkaido, but dropped sets in each of the two matches. Nagoya stayed in fourth place, now on 15-11 and 45. Voreas are second from the bottom, in ninth place on 6-18 and 19. The first match went 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 26-24, 25-22) with opposite Kento Miyaura contributing a team-high 16 points, including four aces and two kill blocks, while his Taiwanese counterpart Chang Yu-Sheng produced a match-high 24 points for Voreas. The second game finished 3-1 (18-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-13) with French outside hitter Aymen Bouguerra leading the way with 19 points, including two aces and a block.

Toray Arrows Shizuoka moved up from eighth to seventh place on 9-15 and 27 after picking up six points at table trailers Nagano Tridents, who remained stuck at the bottom of the standings, in 10^th place on 3-23 and 14. Russian opposite Kirill Klets was on fire in the first match on Saturday. He hammered out a fantastic match high of 41 points, including six kill blocks, towards Toray Arrows’ 3-1 (26-24, 25-18, 18-25, 29-27) victory. Klets produced “only” 21 points, including one ace and one block, to top the chart in Sunday’s 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-23) sweep.

The 15^th leg of regular season action will feature a full set of five double headers on Saturday and Sunday, February 14 and 15.

Men’s SV.League 2025-2026 15th leg:
Feb 14, 12:35 local (03:35 UTC): Osaka Bluteon v Hiroshima Thunders
Feb 14, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Nagano Tridents
Feb 14, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Feb 14, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Feb 14, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Voreas Hokkaido
Feb 15, 12:35 local (03:35 UTC): Osaka Bluteon v Hiroshima Thunders
Feb 15, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Nagano Tridents
Feb 15, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Voreas Hokkaido
Feb 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Feb 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Wolfdogs Nagoya

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