Kulan produces as Toray Arrows gain ground on JT Marvelous in Japan

Second-placed Toray Arrows took advantage of an upset of JT Marvelous to close the gap with the Japanese Women’s V. League leaders after a pair of three-set wins. The Arrows were the only team among the top four to take all six points home this weekend.

The four-time national champions, who are looking for their first title since 2011-2012, handled both of their matches pretty well, downing the Denso Airybees 25-23, 25-22, 25-16 on Saturday and defeating Hitachi Rivale 25-13, 25-22, 25-20 on Sunday.

The top scorer of the V. League in two of the last three seasons, Azeri player Jana Kulan took care of her offensive duties with the Arrows in both matches. The 1.97m-tall outside hitter delivered 27 points (22 kills, five blocks) against the Airybees and followed that with a 19-point (18 kills, one ace) performance against Rivale.

With the six points collected over the weekend, the Arrows now stand at 55 points (18 wins) and are just two victories behind JT Marvelous, who have amassed 60 points so far in the season.

The leaders couldn’t handle excellent performances from NEC Red Rockets’ outside hitters Sarah Wilhite (20 points) and Sarina Koga (19) and fell in straight sets (28-26, 25-17, 25-20) on Saturday.

They rebounded on Sunday on the back of a 35-point (31 kills, two blocks, two aces) performance of American Olympic champion opposite Annie Drews, who guided them to a 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-23, 25-21) victory against the Toyota Auto Body Queenseis.

Ranked third with 52 points (17 wins), the Red Rockets couldn’t fully capitalize on their victory over the leaders as they lost a nail-biting five-set (18-25, 25-21, 25-18, 21-25, 15-12) battle to the Hisamitsu Springs on Sunday. Soga (29 points) and Wilhite (23) were again in top form, but the Springs had a high-scoring duo of their own in outside hitters Arisa Inoue (31 points) and Yuki Ishii (21).

As they had defeated the Queenseis on Saturday in straight sets (26-24, 25-22, 25-20) with Inoue and Ishii producing 12 points apiece, the fourth-placed Springs also had a successful weekend in the league. They now have 49 points and 16 wins.

Fifth-placed Saitama Ageo Medics joined the Arrows as the only teams in the V. Leagu'se top five to take all six points over the weekend. The club defeated Victorina Himeji 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-17) on Saturday and swept (25-14, 25-18, 25-19) the Kurobe Acqua Fairies on Sunday. Brazil national team opposite Lorenne Teixeira combined for 29 points across both matches. The Ageo Medics have 45 points out of 15 wins.

The V. League features four more weekends of regular season play before the start of the Final Round, which will reunite the three top-ranked sides.