Top-four clashes to highlight women’s weekend in Japan

Teams from the top four in the current standings will meet in two of the seven double headers this weekend, March 14 and 15, to highlight the 20^th leg of the women’s Daido Life SV.League in Japan. Third-placed defending champions Osaka Marvelous will challenge table leaders NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki, while second-placed Saga Hisamitsu Springs take on fourth-placed Victorina Himeji. While these four teams have already secured their spots in the playoffs, PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku have the opportunity to become the fifth team with a ticket to the quarterfinals as they visit Denso Airybees Koriyama on Saturday and Sunday.

• Watch Japan's SV.League on VBTV

In a remake of last season’s final, 2025 titleholders Osaka Marvelous will host NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki in the big match-up of the leg at the Green Arena Kobe, starting at 14:05 local time (05:05 UTC) on both competition days. Osaka occupy third place on a 26-10 win-loss ratio and 79 points, while NEC stand on top of the table on 31-5 and 89. Back in May of last year, Marvelous swept both matches of the championship series against Red Rockets in straight sets. When the two teams met earlier this season in late October, the squad from Kawasaki achieved two five-set home victories.

Serving off at the same time on both days, Saga Hisamitsu Springs will welcome Victorina Himeji to the Saga Arena, hoping to narrow the distance to NEC Red Rockets in the standings, or to widen that to Osaka. Arriving on a nine-game winning streak, Saga are running second on 29-7 and 78, while their visitors from Himeji, also riding on a long streak of six wins in a row, are not far behind, in fourth place on 25-11 and 73, with a shot at surpassing Marvelous to the third place by the end of the weekend. When Saga visited Himeji in early November, they brought home two victories, 3-0 and 3-2.

Should PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku win one of their matches at Denso Airybees Koriyama this weekend, they will claim the fifth spot in the playoff bracket. PFU are in fifth place on 24-12 and 75, while Denso are also currently in the playoff zone, eighth place on 18-18 and 56. The games at the Horaiya Bonds Arena will get underway at 13:05 (04:05) on both Saturday and Sunday. In their previous double header in early November, hosts PFU took a four-set victory in the first match, but Denso retaliated with a five-set win the following day.

Queenseis Kariya are another team that could potentially book a berth in the playoffs by the end of this weekend, but this would depend not only on theirs, but on other teams’ results as well. They are in sixth place on 21-15 and 69, and they have an upcoming double header on the road at Astemo Rivale Ibaraki, standing 10^th on 14-22 and 46, and also still well in the running for a quarterfinal spot. Both matches at the CNA Arena Akita this weekend are set to start at 14:05 (05:05). Kariya put together two home wins over Astemo in November, 3-2 and 3-0.

Seventh-placed Gunma Green Wings will play at home, entertaining second-from-the-bottom Okayama Seagulls at the Yamato Citizen Gymnasium Maebashi at 13:05 (04:05) on both Saturday and Sunday. Gunma stand on 20-16 and 57, while Okayama are down in 13^th place on 4-32 and 15, as one of the three teams no longer in contention for the playoffs. Green Wings shut out Seagulls in the first game of their double header in November, but in the second, the hosts from Okayama pushed the duel to five sets before conceding defeat.

Saitama Ageo Medics will try to enter or stay close to the playoff zone as they host Toray Arrows Shiga at the Lipro Martial Arts Arena on Saturday and Sunday at 13:05 (04:05). Ageo are just below the cut-off, in ninth place on 17-19 and 47. Their visitors are out of contention for the quarterfinals, standing third from the bottom, in 12^th place on 6-30 and 19. When they visited Toray Arrows in November, Ageo brough home the full six points – 3-1 and 3-0.

Kurobe Aqua Fairies will travel to Aranmare Yamagata for two matches at the Yamagata Prefectural Sports Park Arena, serving off at 14:05 (05:05) on Saturday and at 13:05 (04:05) on Sunday. For Kurobe, it could be a chance to put an end to a six-match losing streak and stay competitive in the race for the playoffs, as they are currently in 11^th place on 14-22 and 42. For Aranmare, it could be a shot at snapping out of a negative run of 12 losses in a row and pushing up from the bottom of the table, the 14th place, where they are stuck on 3-33 and 11. In December, Aqua Fairies beat Aranmare by 3-0 and 3-2 at home.

Women’s SV.League 2025-2026 20th leg:
Mar 14, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Denso Airybees Koriyama v PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku
Mar 14, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Gunma Green Wings v Okayama Seagulls
Mar 14, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Saitama Ageo Medics v Toray Arrows Shiga
Mar 14, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Aranmare Yamagata v Kurobe Aqua Fairies
Mar 14, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Astemo Rivale Ibaraki v Queenseis Kariya
Mar 14, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Marvelous v NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki
Mar 14, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Saga Hisamitsu Springs v Victorina Himeji
Mar 15, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Denso Airybees Koriyama v PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku
Mar 15, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Gunma Green Wings v Okayama Seagulls
Mar 15, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Saitama Ageo Medics v Toray Arrows Shiga
Mar 15, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Aranmare Yamagata v Kurobe Aqua Fairies
Mar 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Astemo Rivale Ibaraki v Queenseis Kariya
Mar 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Marvelous v NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki
Mar 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Saga Hisamitsu Springs v Victorina Himeji

Quick links:
Japanese SV.League - women
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter