Suntory and Bluteon qualify for SV.League semis, Stings book quarterfinal spot

Suntory Sunbirds Osaka and Osaka Bluteon secured the top two spots in the men’s volleyball Daido Life SV.League regular season final standings in Japan, and hence qualified for direct passage to the semifinals, as the 10 matches of the 20^th leg were played from Friday to Sunday of this week. Meanwhile, JTEKT Stings Aichi booked their place in the quarterfinal playoffs, by guaranteeing themselves a top-six finish.

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Before the start of the leg, Suntory Sunbirds Osaka needed to win just two points from their home double header against Wolfdogs Nagoya to reserve a semifinal berth, but they went on and gained the full six, improving to a 33-3 win-loss ratio and 96 points on top of the current standings with eight matches to go. On Saturday, the defending champions delighted a home crowd of over six thousand fans in the stands of the Ookini Arena Maishima with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 23-25, 25-21) victory. Suntory Sunbirds’ Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy fired four aces and raised three kill blocks to share the top scorer honors with his counterpart Kento Miyaura, who also scored 20 points, all in swings. On Sunday, Sunbirds got the job done in straight sets, 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 26-24). Muserskiy topped the scorer chart with 19 points, including three blocks. Wolfdogs fell one position to fourth place on 21-15 and 61.

Osaka Bluteon swept both of their road games at Nagano Tridents in straight sets, consolidated in second place on 30-6 and 88 and can no longer be caught up with by the teams below. Meanwhile, Nagano remained on 4-32 and 18, stuck in 10^th place at the bottom of the table. The FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship silver medalists put together a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 29-27) win on Saturday with a match-high 18 points from opposite and captain Yuji Nishida. Bluteon’s Cuban outside hitter Miguel Lopez led the team in Sunday’s 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-21) shutout with a match-high 16 points.

In front of about three thousand spectators on each of the days, JTEKT Stings Aichi achieved two home wins over Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers, picked up five points, overtook Nagoya into third place on 22-14 and 63, and reserved their place in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Sakai stayed just below the cut-off line, in seventh place on 13-23 and 40. The first match went 3-1 (24-26, 25-20, 25-19, 26-24) Aichi’s way, with three players – Stings’ American outside Torey DeFalco and French opposite Stephen Boyer, and Sakai’s Danish opposite Ulrik Dahl – sharing the top position in the scorer chart with 19 points each. A nail-biting five-setter unfolded in Sunday’s match, with JTEKT celebrating as winners again. Brazilian outside Ricardo Lucarelli was on fire with an impressive contribution of 37 points, including 35 in attack at a 64% success rate, towards a 3-2 (25-23, 39-41, 22-25, 26-24, 15-11) victory.

Tokyo Great Bears and Toray Arrows Shizuoka were the only teams who split the wins in their double header this weekend. Almost three and a half thousand fans at the iconic Ariake Coliseum cheered on as Tokyo delivered a 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 20-25, 25-16) home victory on Saturday with a match-high 20 points from Argentinean outside Luciano Vicentin. As many spectators also came to the hall on Sunday, when the visitors from Shizuoka stunned Great Bears with a 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 18-25, 20-25, 15-13) upset. Opposite Daiki Yamada led the winners with 25 points, all in swings at a 63% success rate, while his Polish counterpart Bartosz Kurek put away a match-high 27 points. Tokyo stayed in fifth place, now on 19-17 and 57, while Toray Arrows climbed to eighth place on 11-25 and 33.

The games of one of the double headers were played on Friday and Saturday. In both of them, visitors Hiroshima Thunders hammered out straight-set victories over Voreas Hokkaido – 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-21) and 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-19) with a match-high 18 points from Brazilian opposite Felipe Roque in each. Hiroshima are hanging to the edge of the playoff zone, in sixth place on 17-19 and 53, while Voreas dropped to second from the bottom, ninth place on 10-26 and 31.

The 21^st leg next weekend will offer a full set of five double headers on Saturday and Sunday, March 28 and 29.

Men’s SV.League 2025-2026 21st leg:
Mar 28, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Mar 28, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Nagano Tridents
Mar 28, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Mar 28, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Voreas Hokkaido
Mar 28, 14:35 local (05:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Osaka Bluteon
Mar 29, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Mar 29, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Nagano Tridents
Mar 29, 13:35 local (04:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Osaka Bluteon
Mar 29, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Mar 29, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Voreas Hokkaido

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