Himeji snatch thrilling five-set wins over Kurobe

In the most interesting double header of the women’s Daido Life SV.League weekend in Japan, Victorina Himeji squeezed out two thrilling five-set victories over Kurobe Aqua Fairies to keep their runner-up position in the current standings, as the 14 games of the seventh leg unfolded on Saturday and Sunday.

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In front of over two thousand fans at the Victorina Wink Gymnasium on Saturday, the home team took a rollercoaster 3-2 (25-23, 16-25, 20-25, 25-22, 15-13) win over Kurobe Aqua Fairies. Italian outside hitter Camilla Mingardi led Victorina Himeji with a kill block and 16 successful spikes. Bulgarian middle blocker Mira Todorova registered a 55% success rate in attack, raised two stuffs and put away an ace to finish with 15 points for the winners, while sub-in outside Rino Furuichi emerged as the best scorer of the match with 22 points, including two aces. Sunday’s game was pushed to tie-breaker overtime before Himeji could triumph again, 3-2 (21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 24-26, 16-14). This time their Korean outside Lee Jae-Yeong was above all with 26 points, including an ace and a block. Himeji improved to an 11-3 win-loss ratio and 32 points in second place, while Kurobe dropped two spots in the table, to sixth place on 8-6 and 22.

Sunday’s competition delivered another two five-setters. In one of them, table leaders NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki were pushed by their visitors Queenseis Kariya to a tie-breaker resolution. Before that, on Saturday, NEC delighted the three and a half thousand spectators with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-18) shutout of Kariya, with Italian opposite Sylvia Nwakalor putting up three kill blocks towards a team-high 14 points, while Kariya’s Russian outside Sofya Kuznetsova topped that with 16 points, including an ace and a block. On Sunday, Queenseis came back from two sets down to prompt a fifth, but Red Rockets celebrated another win, 3-2 (25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 25-27, 15-12). Once again, Nwakalor led the way, with four stuffs and 23 successful swings. NEC top the table on 13-1 and 35, while Kariya descended two positions to ninth place on 7-7 and 22.

Gunma Green Wings started their visit to Okayama Seagulls with an emphatic 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-21) sweep of the first match, powered by 22 kills in attack from Polish outside Olivia Rozanski. Sunday’s game, however, offered a five-set battle, in which the visitors celebrated the win again, 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-13, 22-25, 15-10). This time, Vietnamese opposite Tran Thi Thanh Thuy topped the chart with 28 points, including three aces and two blocks. Gunma rose four spots to fifth place on 8-6 and 24, while Okayama stayed second from the bottom, in 13^th place, now on 1-13 and 5.

Saga Hisamitsu Springs and Toray Arrows Shiga played their double header on Friday and Saturday, with the hosts from Saga sweeping both games in straight sets. In the first match, they mastered a 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-14) victory with a match-high 22 points, including an ace, from American opposite Stephanie Samedy. She was also the best scorer in next day’s 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-19) shutout, this time with 17 points, all in swings. Saga improved to 11-3 and 31 in third place, while Toray Arrows remained third from the bottom, in 12^th place on 3-11 and 8.

Defending champions Osaka Marvelous hammered out two shutouts of their hosts Saitama Ageo Medics. In Saturday’s 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22) sweep, outside hitter Kotona Hayashi led the way with 18 points, including two blocks. In Sunday’s 3-0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-21), outside Mikoto Shima was the best scorer with 14 points, including one block. Osaka improved to 9-5 and 30 and climbed to fourth place, while Ageo dropped to 10^th on 6-6 and 17.

Rosamaria Montibeller steered Denso Airybees Koriyama to two straight-set victories at Aranmare Yamagata. The Brazilian opposite hammered out 19 points, including an ace, towards Saturday’s 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-18) sweep, and another 16, including three kill blocks, towards Sunday’s 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-22) shutout. Denso climbed two positions to eighth place on 7-7 and 22. Aranmare trail bottom, stuck in 14^th place on 1-13 and 3.

PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku and Astemo Rivale Ibaraki were the only ones, who traded victories this weekend. On Saturday, PFU mastered a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-15) sweep with a match-high 19 points from outside Miyu Kawazoe. On Sunday, the visitors from Ibaraki got back at their hosts with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 13-25, 19-27) win on the wings of 29 points, including an ace and a block, from American striker Mackenzie May. PFU shifted up to seventh place on 7-7 and 24, while Astemo stayed in 11^th place on 4-8 and 13.

Next weekend’s eighth leg will offer another full set of seven double headers to be played on Saturday and Sunday, November 29 and 30.

Women’s SV.League 2025-2026 eighth leg:
Nov 29, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Denso Airybees Koriyama v Okayama Seagulls
Nov 29, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Gunma Green Wings v Toray Arrows Shiga
Nov 29, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku v Aranmare Yamagata
Nov 29, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki v Saitama Ageo Medics
Nov 29, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Kurobe Aqua Fairies v Saga Hisamitsu Springs
Nov 29, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Marvelous v Astemo Rivale Ibaraki
Nov 29, 18:05 local (09:05 UTC): Queenseis Kariya v Victorina Himeji
Nov 30, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Denso Airybees Koriyama v Okayama Seagulls
Nov 30, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Gunma Green Wings v Toray Arrows Shiga
Nov 30, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku v Aranmare Yamagata
Nov 30, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki v Saitama Ageo Medics
Nov 30, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Kurobe Aqua Fairies v Saga Hisamitsu Springs
Nov 30, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Marvelous v Astemo Rivale Ibaraki
Nov 30, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Queenseis Kariya v Victorina Himeji

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