Suntory Sunbirds Osaka snatched the full six points from this weekend’s big double header against Osaka Bluteon and broke away at the top of the current standings in the men’s volleyball Daido Life SV.League in Japan.
SV-Men 2025-2026
Suntory Sunbirds break away on top of SV.League
Recap of men’s SV.League eighth-leg matches
Published 03:35, 28 Dec 2025
Suntory Sunbirds Osaka celebrate during their game against Osaka Bluteon (photo source: Photoraid / @vking_jp)
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After trading victories in the season’s opening weekend and winning all their matches that followed, the two Osaka giants were running neck and neck until this weekend, when they met again, but this time the reigning national champions defeated the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship runners-up twice to open up a wide gap between the two table leaders. Suntory Sunbirds now lead the way with a 15-1 win-loss ratio and 44 points, leaving Bluteon behind with 13-3 and 37. Well over six thousand fans attended each of the two games at the Ookini Arena Maishima.
Saturday’s match went 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 24-26, 25-19) Suntory Sunbirds’ way, with Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy firing four aces and raising two kill blocks towards a match-high 21 points. Outside hitter Ran Takahashi put up four kill blocks and finished with 18 points, while the other Russian on the squad, outside Egor Kliuka chipped in with another 15, including two stuffs. Sub-in opposite Hiroto Nishiyama was Bluteon’s leading scorer with 16 points, all in swings.
On Sunday, Suntory Sunbirds took out Bluteon in straight sets, 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 29-27). Muserskiy emerged as the top scorer again, this time with 20 points, including three aces and three blocks. Takahashi also reached the double digits with three aces and a kill block towards an 11-point tally. Cuban outside Miguel Lopez with 11 points, all in attack, and opposite Yuki Nishida with 10, including three stuffs and an ace, were the most prolific point-makers on the other side of the net.
“It was a successful weekend, and the fact that we were able to seize this opportunity and win two games in a row is very meaningful for the coming weeks,” commented Suntory Sunbirds’ French head coach Olivier Lecat.
In another high-profile clash this weekend, between JTEKT Stings Aichi and Hiroshima Thunders, the two teams exchanged victories, bagging three points each. Hosts Aichi produced a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-18) shutout of Hiroshima on Saturday with a match-high 17 points from French opposite Stephen Boyer, including three blocks. The visitors reacted with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-19) sweep of Sunday’s match. American outside Cooper Robinson topped the chart with 17 points, including four kill blocks, for the winners. Aichi kept their third place on 11-5 and 33, while Hiroshima lost some ground, falling one spot down to sixth place on 7-9 and 22.
Voreas Hokkaido and Toray Arrows Shizuoka also split the points in their double header, but not before putting up two fierce five-set battles. The first one went 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 25-18, 19-25, 15-12) the way of the visiting team from Shizuoka with a match-high 26 points from Russian opposite Kirill Klets, including three stuffs and an ace. On Sunday, hosts Voreas got back at their opponents with an epic 3-2 (27-29, 25-23, 31-29, 23-25, 21-19) victory, powered by Taiwanese opposite Chang Yu-Sheng with a team-high 41 points, including three blocks and two aces. But Toray Arrows’ Klets topped even that and finished with an amazing match high of 47 points, including three blocks and an ace. While Voreas remained seventh, now on 5-11 and 16, Toray Arrows managed to float away from the bottom of the table, climbing two spots to eighth place on 3-11 and 10.
New Emperor’s Cup champions Wolfdogs Nagoya mastered two straight-set victories over Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers at home and improved to 11-5 and 31 in fourth place, pushing their opponents down to the bottom of the table, in 10th place on 3-13 and 8. Outside Taito Mizumachi led the home team to Saturday’s 3-0 (29-27, 25-12, 25-23) shutout with a match-high 14 points (including two aces), matched by his Italian counterpart Tommaso Rinaldi (two aces, one block). Star opposite Kento Miyaura fueled Sunday’s 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-21) sweep with a match-high 15 points (one ace), matched by Danish counterpart Ulrik Dahl (two blocks, one ace).
Two four-set victories at Nagano Tridents, lifted Tokyo Great Bears to fifth place on 7-7 and 20, and pushed Nagano down to ninth on 3-13 and 13. Polish star opposite Bartosz Kurek spearheaded Tokyo to Saturday’s 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 23-25, 25-15) win with 28 points, including three aces and two blocks. Outside Rikuto Goto led the squad from the capital to Sunday’s 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 34-36, 25-23) success with 21 points, including four blocks and an ace.
The ninth leg of regular season action will offer four double headers on January 3 and 4, 2026.
Men’s SV.League 2025-2026 ninth leg:
Jan 03, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Tokyo Great Bears
Jan 03, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Osaka Bluteon
Jan 03, 14:35 local (05:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Nagano Tridents
Jan 03, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Toray Arrows Shizuoka
Jan 04, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Tokyo Great Bears
Jan 04, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Toray Arrows Shizuoka
Jan 04, 13:35 local (04:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Nagano Tridents
Jan 04, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Osaka Bluteon
