NEC and Osaka exchange wins, Denso and Ageo suffer upsets

The 13^th leg of the women’s Daido Life SV.League in Japan offered a number of interesting results. In the big clash of the weekend, a remake of last season’s final, defending champions NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki and table leaders Osaka Marvelous exchanged victories. Meanwhile, the first and second runners-up in the current standings, Denso Airybees Koriyama and Saitama Ageo Medics, also suffered upsets in their first games on Saturday, but recovered with straight-set wins on Sunday.

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In a rollercoaster five-setter on Saturday, NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki squeezed out a 3-2 (25-19, 19-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-12) home win over Osaka Marvelous. Outside hitter Yoshino Sato led the way to success with 27 points, including two aces and a kill block. Brazilian opposite Lorrayna Marys contributed another 21 points, while middle blocker Haruyo Shimamura finished with 18. As many as five players reached the double digits on Osaka’s side: Lise Van Hecke of Belgium with 22, Kotona Hayashi with 16, Ameze Miyabe with 15, Sashi Minowa with 13 and Haruka Oyama with 12.

“I'm very happy that we were able to win a close five-set match. I think the reason we were able to overcome our disadvantage was because the players communicated well on the court about how to score points and always took an offensive stance,” commented NEC’s head coach Takayuki Kaneko.

Osaka’s reaction on Sunday was swift and clear – 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-19), keeping the team on top of the table on an 18-4 win-loss ratio and 55 points and pushing NEC down to fifth place on 14-8 and 44. Opposite Van Hecke and outside Hayashi led their team to a clean sweep with 15 points each.

“I think today we were able to fight by correcting the issues that came up in yesterday's loss. Our serves worked well, our blocks and digs were very good, and the substitutes also performed well. It was a tough two games in a row, but thanks to the support of everyone who came to Kawasaki to cheer for us, we were able to play an exciting match,” said Osaka’s head coach Daisuke Sakai.

With a solid blocking effort, PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku stunned Denso Airybees Koriyama on Saturday with a 3-1 (25-27, 27-25, 25-19, 25-22) home win. Kisa Okuma was the winners’ best scorer with 20 points, including five kill blocks. Melissa Valdes added another 19 (three blocks), while Denso’s Colombian outside Amanda Coneo delivered a match-high 24 points. Denso took their revenge on Sunday with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-22) sweep, improved to 19-5 and 57, but missed their chance to climb back up to the top of the table. Despite their win on Saturday, PFU dropped to 11^th place on 9-15 and 26. Brazilian opposite Rosamaria Montibeller was the top scorer of the second game with 21 points for Denso.

Third-placed Saitama Ageo Medics suffered their Saturday upset at home. Led by Hungarian outside Greta Szakmary with 24 points and American opposite Stephanie Samedy with 23, Saga Hisamitsu Springs surprised them with a 3-1 (28-26, 25-17, 24-26, 25-21) victory. Ageo’s reaction on Sunday was also quite emphatic – 3-0 (28-26, 25-20, 27-25), with 13 points from Slovenian opposite Nika Markovic and another 12 from outside Aki Meguro. They stand on 15-7 and 46, while Saga are on 15-9 and 47 in sixth place.

Victorina Himeji capitalized on NEC’s loss to surpass them in the standings to the fourth place on 15-7 and 41 after two home victories over winless Gunma Green Wings, who trail bottom in 14^th place on 0-20 and 1 – 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-18) with a 21-point match high from outside Arisa Inoue on Saturday, and 3-0 (25-9, 25-16, 25-18) with a 12-point match high from outside Kaya Watanabe on Sunday

Queenseis Kariya and Astemo Rivale Ibaraki exchanged four-set victories and kept their places in the table – ninth on 9-13 and 28, and seventh on 13-9 and 37, respectively. In the first match, Astemo put together a 3-1 (25-22, 25-18, 17-25, 25-23) win with an 18-point contribution from American opposite Mackenzie May. In the second, Kariya got back at their visitors with 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21) win, inspired by Belgian opposite Kaja Grobelna with a 23-point match high.

Eighth-placed Toray Arrows Shiga suffered two upsets at 12^th-placed Kurobe Aqua Fairies, but both teams stayed in their spots in the standings, on 12-12 and 33, and on 9-15 and 25, respectively. In a five-set duel on Saturday, Kurobe managed a 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-11) win with a 29-point match high from German outside Lena Stigrot. On Sunday, the hosts celebrated a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-14) sweep, led by Dutch opposite Iris Scholten with 13 points.

Okayama Seagulls hammered out two shutouts of Aranmare Yamagata and rose to 10^th place on 8-12 and 26, leaving the opponents second from the bottom, in 13^th place on 2-22 and 8. Outside hitter Yuzu Nakamoto was the best scorer in Saturday’s 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-17) victory with 22 points and in Sunday’s 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-11) sweep with 21.

Another seven double headers are on the SV.League programme for next weekend, January 18 and 19.

Women’s SV.League 2024-2025 13th leg:
Jan 18, 12:05 local (03:05 UTC): Queenseis Kariya v Saga Hisamitsu Springs
Jan 18, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Denso Airybees Koriyama v Gunma Green Wings
Jan 18, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Astemo Rivale Ibaraki v Saitama Ageo Medics
Jan 18, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Osaka Marvelous v Kurobe Aqua Fairies
Jan 18, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Aranmare Yamagata v Victorina Himeji
Jan 18, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki v Okayama Seagulls
Jan 18, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shiga v PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku
Jan 19, 11:05 local (02:05 UTC): Queenseis Kariya v Saga Hisamitsu Springs
Jan 19, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Denso Airybees Koriyama v Gunma Green Wings
Jan 19, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Astemo Rivale Ibaraki v Saitama Ageo Medics
Jan 19, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Osaka Marvelous v Kurobe Aqua Fairies
Jan 19, 13:05 local (05:05 UTC): Aranmare Yamagata v Victorina Himeji
Jan 19, 13:05 local (05:05 UTC): NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki v Okayama Seagulls
Jan 19, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shiga v PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku

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