Thomas Edgar was on fire in the Japanese V. League this past weekend as a pair of top performances by the Australian star opposite helped his team JT Thunders Hiroshima secure two important victories against second-placed Osaka Sakai Blazers and move up in the standings.
High-scoring Edgar leads JT Thunders to wins in Japan
The Australian plays key role in his team’s victories in the V. League over the weekend
Published 07:00, 07 Feb 2022
JT Thunders were dominant in the first match, on Saturday, tallying a straight-set (26-24, 25-22, 25-22) victory against the 17-time national champions, but needed all five sets (23-25, 25-15, 25-16, 23-25, 15-12) to add another win and two more points to their record on Sunday.
The 32-year-old, 2.12m tall Edgar, who’s been playing for JT Thunders since 2017, was the top scorer of both encounters, tallying 23 points (22 kills, one ace) in the first and improving to 34 (31 kills, two blocks, one ace) in the second. The Australian, who helped JT Thunders win the Emperor’s Cup in 2019, ranks second in points scored in the league this season with 544.
Top-ranked Suntory Sunbirds also had a positive weekend, defeating the Toray Arrows 3-0 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday to remain clear at the top of the standings. Russian Olympic champion Dmitriy Muserskiy led the scorers in both matches, registering 23 points (20 kills, two blocks, one ace) in the first and 19 (15 kills, three blocks, one ace) in the second.
Polish star Bartosz Kurek scored 49 points across the weekend to significantly contribute to a pair of Nagoya Wolfdogs’ victories over VC Nagano Tridents. The MVP of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship and the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Nations League tallied 23 points (19 kills, two blocks, two aces) in Saturday’s 3-1 victory and followed that up with 26 (24 kills, two aces) in Sunday’s sweep.
Seven-time national champions Panasonic Panthers’ weekend evolved in a similar way, with 3-0 and 3-1 victories over JTEKT Stings. Polish national team captain Michal Kubiak and Tatsunori Otsuka split the offensive load for the Panthers in the first match with each scoring 13 points, but the Japanese outside hitter led the charge in the second match, tallying 28 (26 kills, one block, one ace).
FC Tokyo recovered from a pair of straight-set losses last weekend to win both of their matches against Oita Miyoshi Weisse Adler 3-1. The Philippines’ opposite Marck Espejo starred in the first game with 16 points (15 kills, one ace), while veteran outside hitter Yuma Nagatomo came up big in the second, delivering 22 (21 kills, one ace).
The Sunbirds continue at the top of the standings with 51 points (19 wins, five losses), followed by the Blazers and the Arrows, both with 49 (16 wins, eight losses). The Panthers, with 46 (15 wins, seven losses), and the Wolfdogs, with 39 (13 wins, seven losses), complete the top five.
Only two matches are set to take place next weekend in the Japanese League with the Wolfdogs and the JT Thunders clashing on Saturday and Sunday.
