In front of well over three and a half thousand spectators on each of the two competition days of the weekend, Osaka Bluteon started off with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-22) sweep of Saturday’s game at JTEKT Stings Aichi. Three players – outside hitters Shoma Tomita and Cuba’s Miguel Lopez, and opposite Yuji Nishida – led the winners with 12 points apiece, while Aichi’s French opposite Stephen Boyer topped the match chart with 14 points. The home team got back at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship silver medalists with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-16) comeback victory on Sunday. This time, Boyer and Aichi’s American outside Torey DeFalco shared the top scorer honors with 21 points each. Bluteon kept their second place in the table, now on a 14-4 win-loss record and 40 points, while Stings descended a spot, to fourth place on 12-6 and 36.
Table leaders Suntory Sunbirds Osaka consolidated their position on top of the standings with two home victories over Tokyo Great Bears. The visitors, however, managed to push them to five sets in the first game on Saturday before the defending champions could celebrate a 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 19-25, 25-13, 15-9) win. Outside hitter and captain Ran Takahashi contributed a match-high 24 points to Suntory Sunbirds’ success, including one ace and one kill block. The home team was more convincing on Sunday, when they took their opponents out in straight sets, 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-23). Takahashi once again led his team to victory, with a team-high 16 points, including two aces and a block, while Tokyo’s Argentinean outside Luciano Vicentin topped that with 18 points, also including two aces and a block. Suntory Sunbirds have now improved to 17-1 and 49, while Tokyo are on 7-9 and 21, falling one position down to sixth place.
