JTEKT and Suntory exchange victories in Japan

JTEKT Stings Aichi got back at Suntory Sunbirds Osaka for the four-set defeat on Saturday with a four-set win on Sunday. Table leaders Osaka Bluteon, who had the weekend off, took advantage of this exchange to keep their first place in the current standings, where they stand on a 10-2 win-loss ratio and 30 points, after the end of the four double headers of the seventh leg in the men’s Daido Life SV.League in Japan.

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On Saturday, defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka claimed a 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-14) win over their hosts JTEKT Stings Aichi, with their Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy emerging as the top scorer of the match with 23 points, including three kill blocks. American outside hitter Torey DeFalco on the other side of the net finished with 21 points, also including three blocks, as well as an ace.

“With a series of matches against strong opponents, I told the team that it was an opportunity to raise our level, and I am glad that the athletes played hard and produced results,” said Suntory’s French head coach Olivier Lecat after the match.

On Sunday, however, the home team took revenge with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22) victory to keep their second place in the table, now on 11-3 and 28, while Suntory went down a spot, to fourth place on 8-4 and 26. Aichi’s opposite Kento Miyaura was on fire and led his team with 27 points, including three aces and a block. DeFalco added another 21 points.

“I am very happy that we were able to take revenge today after yesterday's disappointing loss. Even though we are still in a tough situation without all the team members, we came up with strategies to deal with this opponent, and I am proud of how we did not give up until the end and fought calmly through the difficult situation,” commented Aichi’s Polish coach Michal Gogol.

Wolfdogs Nagoya brought home two away wins over Hiroshima Thunders, rising to third place on 10-4 and 31. Hiroshima stayed in sixth place, on 5-9 and 16. A brilliant Nimir Abdel-Aziz spearheaded Nagoya with three aces, one kill block and 23 spike kills to a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-18, 25-20) win on Saturday. On Sunday, the visitors came back from two sets down to celebrate a 3-2 (23-25, 17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-11) victory. The Dutch opposite was on fire again and tallied up as many as 36 points, once again including three aces and a block. His Brazilian counterpart Felipe Roque scored 29 times for Hiroshima.

Tokyo Great Bears collected the full six points from their trip to Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers and improved to 9-5 and 27, keeping the fifth place in the table, while their hosts kept the seventh on 4-8 and 12. Tokyo won their first match in Wakayama in four sets, 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-17), led by Polish opposite Maciej Muzaj with 21 points. The match high of 23 points was delivered by his Canadian counterpart Sharone Vernon-Evans, who fired four aces for Sakai. On Sunday, the visitors got the job done in three sets. Muzaj led the way with 13 points towards a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-14) shutout.

Nagano Tridents caught up with Sakai on win-loss ratio, but are still behind them on points to stay in eighth place. After two away victories over bottom-placed Voreas Hokkaido, they improved to 4-8 and 10. All their opponents from Hokkaido could do this weekend was snatch a point from the second match, so they are still stuck in 10^th place, now on 1-11 and 5. On Saturday, Nagano produced a 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 28-26, 25-19) win, with a 28-point match high by Danish opposite Ulrik Dahl, but on Sunday, they had to turn things around from two sets down to achieve a 3-2 (17-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 15-8) success. Dahl fired 30 points and once again topped the scorers chart of the match.

Next SV.League “weekend” will start with a double header between Suntory Sunbirds Osaka and Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers on Thursday and Friday, and will continue with another four double headers on Saturday and Sunday.

Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 8th leg:
Nov 28, 19:05 local (10:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Nov 29, 19:05 local (10:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Nov 30, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Nagano Tridents v Osaka Bluteon
Nov 30, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Voreas Hokkaido
Nov 30, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Hiroshima Thunders
Nov 30, 15:35 local (06:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Tokyo Great Bears
Dec 01, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nagano Tridents v Osaka Bluteon
Dec 01, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Voreas Hokkaido
Dec 01, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Hiroshima Thunders
Dec 01, 14:35 local (05:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Tokyo Great Bears

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