Muserskiy drives Suntory to double win over Tokyo in Japan

Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy continued to shine in the new men’s Daido Life SV.League season in Japan and powered defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka to two important wins over the stellar squad of Tokyo Great Bears during the weekend, as the second leg of regular season action unfolded from Saturday to Monday.

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The first encounter between Suntory Sunbirds Osaka and Tokyo Great Bears on Saturday was pushed to five sets, with the home team delighting the seven thousand fans on the stands at the Asue Arena with a 3-2 (25-15, 20-25, 29-27, 18-25, 15-12) victory. Dmitriy Muserskiy made a fabulous contribution of three (consecutive) aces, three kill blocks and 26 points in attack at a 59% success rate to top the charts with a total of 32 points. Captain Ran Takahashi added another 15 points, while Suntory’s other outside hitter, Russia’s Egor Kliuka, finished with 10. Their Argentinean counterpart Luciano Vicentin was Tokyo’s most prolific player with 26 points, including three blocks and two aces.

Sunday’s game was more of a one-sided affair and went 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-15) Suntory Sunbirds’ way. Muserskiy shined again, with 17 points – 15 swings at a 60% success rate, one ace and one kill block, while his compatriot Kliuka raised an impressive six kill blocks and also spiked at a 60% success rate to top the charts with a match-high 18 points. Vicentin led Great Bears with 15 points. Suntory Sunbirds occupy third place in the current standings on a 3-1 win-loss ratio and eight points, while Tokyo are eighth on 1-3 and 3.

JTEKT Stings Aichi managed to take two home wins over Toray Arrows Shizuoka to improve to 3-1 and 8 in fourth place, leaving the opponents in seventh on 1-3 and 5. The first game was played on Sunday and finished 3-1 (25-20, 14-25, 25-17, 27-25) with a match-high 24 points from American outside Torey DeFalco, including two blocks. The leg’s closing match on Monday was resolved very deep into the overtime of an epic tie-breaker, but the home team emerged victorious again, squeezing out a nail-biting 3-2 (25-21, 24-26, 29-27, 20-25, 25-23) win. This time, French opposite Stephen Boyer led Aichi with 28 points, including three blocks and an ace, while his Russian counterpart Kirill Klets erupted with a leg-high 38 points for Toray Arrows, including two aces and one block.

In another exciting five-setter, Wolfdogs Nagoya outlasted their hosts Nagano Tridents on Sunday to take second place on 3-1 and 9. A day earlier, they mastered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-22) shutout of the home team as outside Taito Mizumachi led the way with a match-high 19 points, including three blocks and an ace. On Sunday, Nagoya came back from two sets down to celebrate a 3-2 (23-25, 24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 15-11) reverse sweep. French outside Timothee Carle, who came in as a substitution during the second set, emerged as Wolfdogs’ leading scorer with 14 points, while his Nagano counterparts Ryuya Sato (five kill blocks) and Yuji Kudo shared the top scorer honors with 17 points each. Tridents are now on 2-2 and 7 in fifth place.

Osaka Bluteon shut out their visitors Voreas Hokkaido twice and the two teams occupied the opposing ends of the table. Osaka are on top on 3-1 and 9, and Voreas are at the bottom on 1-3 and 3. Cuban outside Miguel Lopez contributed a match-high 19 points, including two blocks, towards Saturday’s 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-22) win. Opposite and captain Yuji Nishida chipped in with a team-high 11 points towards Sunday’s 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-22) sweep, while Estonian outside Mart Tammearu and opposite Chang Yu-Sheng of Chinese Taipei topped the match charts with 13 points apiece for Voreas.

In the other double header over the weekend, Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers and Hiroshima Thunders traded three-point wins. The hosts pleased a crowd of well over three thousand with a 3-1 (25-17, 20-25, 25-18, 25-17) victory over Hiroshima on Saturday with a match-high 19 points from outside Kenta Takanashi, including two aces and a block. The visitors got back at Sakai with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-19) shutout on Sunday, with outside and captain Yudai Arai leading the way with a match-high 14 points, including one ace. Hiroshima stand sixth on 2-2 and 5, while Sakai are second from the bottom, in ninth place on 1-3 and 3.

Another full set of five double headers will be played in the third leg from November 7 to 9.

Men’s SV.League 2025-2026 third leg:
Nov 07, 19:05 local (10:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears в Nagano Tridents
Nov 08, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Voreas Hokkaido v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Nov 08, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Nov 08, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Osaka Bluteon
Nov 08, 14:35 local (05:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Suntory Sunbirds Osaka
Nov 08, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears в Nagano Tridents
Nov 09, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Voreas Hokkaido v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Nov 09, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Nov 09, 13:35 local (04:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Suntory Sunbirds Osaka
Nov 09, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Osaka Bluteon

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