Unlike the other six double headers played during the weekend, Osaka Marvelous and Denso Airybees Koriyama held their games on Friday and Saturday. After a tight battle, Denso surprised their hosts with a 3-0 (27-25, 26-24, 25-22) sweep of the first match, with a match-high 21 points from Brazilian opposite Rosamaria Montibeller. The visitors reaffirmed their success on Saturday with another win, this time in five sets, 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 15-12). Rosamaria was once again the best scorer of the match, with 30 points to her name. Denso improved to a 20-20 win-loss ratio and 61 points, but stayed in ninth place, just below the cut-off for the playoffs.
Quarterfinals-bound Osaka fell to fourth place on 27-13 and 82, surpassed by PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku, who brought home two straight-set wins from their trip to Aranmare Yamagata – 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-22) on Saturday with a match-high 14 points from opposite Reina Kawasaki, and 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20) on Sunday with a team-high 16 points from outside Miyu Kawazoe. Opposite Kaho Wakaizumi top-scored 17 for Aranmare in the second match. PFU climbed to third place on 28-12 and 87, while the squad from Yamagata trails bottom, in 14th place on 3-37 and 11.
Saitama Ageo Medics also celebrated two road wins in the race for the remaining quarterfinal vacancies. They managed a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 30-28) shutout of their hosts Queenseis Kariya in the first match, with 13 points each from outside hitters Ai Kurogo and captain Mami Uchiseto, while American opposite Danielle Cuttino scored a match-high 18, including three aces and three kill blocks, for Kariya. The second game unfolded in a five-set duel, with Ageo snatching a 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11) victory. American opposite Izabella Rapacz contributed a match-high 31 points, including three blocks and an ace. These two wins kept Ageo within the playoff zone, in eighth place on 21-19 and 58. Kariya remained safely in sixth on 23-17 and 76.
In between them, Gunma Green Wings stand seventh on 22-18 and 64 after their trip to Saga Hisamitsu Springs. On Saturday, Saga beat them by an emphatic 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18), led by their recent addition, Swiss outside Julie Lengweiler, with 13 points. Spearheaded by Polish opposite Olivia Rozanski with 24 points, Gunma put up a fight on Sunday, but her American counterpart Stephanie Samedy also put away 24 to lead Saga to another success, 3-2 (18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 21-25, 15-13). Hisamitsu Springs improved to 32-8 and 87 in second place.
