Astemo stun leaders NEC with five-set shocker on the road

Astemo Rivale Ibaraki produced a sensational five-set road win over table leaders NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki in the women’s Daido Life SV.League in Japan on Sunday! Meanwhile, in one of the most interesting 14^th-leg double headers this weekend, PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku and Gunma Green Wings exchanged four-set victories to keep the suspense in the current standings at a high level.

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Astemo Rivale Ibaraki delivered the most surprising result of the weekend on Sunday, when they outlasted their hosts and dominant table leaders NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki in a five-set battle to triumph with a 3-2 (24-26, 34-32, 18-25, 25-23, 15-9) victory, coming back from a set down twice during this epic saga in front of over two and a half thousand spectators at the Ota City General Gymnasium, despite a smashing 43 points from NEC’s Italian opposite Sylvia Nwakalor. Her American counterpart Mackenzie May led the visitors with a team-high 24 points, including two kill blocks and an ace. It was already somewhat of a surprise, when Astemo took the lead in Saturday’s first match against their mighty hosts by snatching the epic first set, but the squad from Kawasaki pleased the home crowd with a 3-1 (34-36, 25-22, 25-21, 25-16) comeback. In this one, May was the best scorer of the match with 28 points, including one ace and one block, while her compatriot, outside Giovanna Day, led the winners with 20 points. NEC stayed in first place, now on a 23-3 win-loss ratio and 65 points. Astemo improved to 9-17 and 28, but stayed fourth from the bottom, in 11^th place.

PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku achieved a 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22) home win over Gunma Green Wings on Saturday. Opposite Melissa Valdes led the way with 23 points, including three aces and two kill blocks. With five kill blocks and two aces to her name, Thai middle blocker Thatdao Nuekjang chipped in with a total of 21 points. Polish opposite Olivia Rozanski’s brilliant performance propelled her to the top of the match scorers chart with an amazing total of 37 points, including four aces and a block. She was on fire again on Sunday. This time, her match-high 27 points, including three blocks and two aces, helped Gunma retaliate with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-20) victory. Their Bulgarian middle Nasya Dimitrova impressed with five kill blocks towards the team’s success. At the end of the weekend, the two teams are now neighbors in the table. PFU dropped a spot to fifth place on 16-10 and 53, with two games in hand, while Gunma climbed a spot to sixth place on 16-12 and 47.

Victorina Himeji overtook PFU in the table after two three-point home victories over Saitama Ageo Medics. In the first match, they took a 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 18-25, 25-21) win with a fantastic match high of 38 points, all in swings, from Italian outside Camilla Mingardi. In the second, the home team claimed a straight-set 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 26-24) victory, with another match high from Mingardi – 26 points, including one ace and one block. Himeji ascended to fourth place on 18-10 and 52, while Ageo descended from sixth to seventh on 14-12 and 39.

Okayama Seagulls and Kurobe Aqua Fairies also traded victories in their double header. In Saturday’s game, hosts Okayama celebrated a hard-fought 3-1 (25-22, 29-27, 25-27, 25-21) win with a match-high 32 points, including one ace and one block, from outside hitter Yuzu Nakamoto. Kurobe got back at their hosts on Sunday with a 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 25-19) victory, led by Dutch opposite Iris Scholten with a match-high 24 points, including three blocks and an ace. Okayama improved to 4-22 and 15, and stayed in 12^th place, while Kurobe improved to 13-13 and 37, and rose a spot to ninth place.

Second-placed Saga Hisamitsu Springs achieved two home wins over Denso Airybees Koriyama, but allowed their visitors to win a total of three sets and bring home a point. Saturday’s game went 3-1 (25-15, 26-28, 25-19, 25-18) Saga’s way with a match-high 22 points from American opposite Stephanie Samedy, including two blocks. Sunday’s match was pushed to five sets, with the home team emerging victorious again, 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-27, 15-11), and Samedy once again the best scorer of the match, contributing 28 points, all in swings. Saga stand on 20-6 and 53 in the runner-up position, while Denso fell to 10^th place on 12-14 and 37.

Defending champions Osaka Marvelous also lost a point in their home double header against Toray Arrows Shiga. Their first encounter was forced to a tie-breaker before Osaka could pocket a 3-2 (19-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 15-11) victory with a team-high 20 points, including three stuffs, from Belgian opposite Lise Van Hecke. Toray Arrows’ French opposite Lucille Gicquel topped the chart with 30 points, including three stuffs and two aces. Marvelous were more convincing on Sunday with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-17) sweep, fueled with a match-high 17 points from outside Mikoto Shima, including one ace and one block. Osaka are running third on 20-8 and 61, while Toray Arrows remain second from the bottom, in 13^th place on 3-23 and 10.

Queenseis Kariya were the only team with maximum gains this weekend after sweeping both their games at Aranmare Yamagata in straight sets – 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-15) on Saturday with a match-high 16 points, including three blocks, from American opposite Danielle Cuttino, and 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 29-27) on Sunday with a team-high 16 points from Cuttino, including two blocks and one ace. Aranmare’s opposite Kaho Wakaizumi was the top scorer of the second game with 20 points, including one ace and one block. Kariya improved to 15-13 and 51 points in eighth place, while Aranmare are stuck at the bottom, in 14^th place on 3-23 and 10, with a slightly lower set ratio than Toray Arrows.

The women’s All-Star Game in Japan is coming up next on Saturday, January 31, at the Glion Arena in Kobe, while another full set of seven SV.League double headers is scheduled for the following weekend, February 7 and 8.

Women’s SV.League 2025-2026 All-Star Game and 15th leg:
Jan 31, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): All-Star Game – Team Nichika v Team Yoshino
Feb 07, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Denso Airybees Koriyama v Victorina Himeji
Feb 07, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Gunma Green Wings v Osaka Marvelous
Feb 07, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku v Saitama Ageo Medics
Feb 07, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Queenseis Kariya v Okayama Seagulls
Feb 07, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Astemo Rivale Ibaraki v Aranmare Yamagata
Feb 07, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Kurobe Aqua Fairies v Toray Arrows Shiga
Feb 07, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Saga Hisamitsu Springs v NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki
Feb 08, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Denso Airybees Koriyama v Victorina Himeji
Feb 08, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Gunma Green Wings v Osaka Marvelous
Feb 08, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku v Saitama Ageo Medics
Feb 08, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Queenseis Kariya v Okayama Seagulls
Feb 08, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Astemo Rivale Ibaraki v Aranmare Yamagata
Feb 08, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Kurobe Aqua Fairies v Toray Arrows Shiga
Feb 08, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Saga Hisamitsu Springs v NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki

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