Toray Arrows upset Nagano to push up from SV.League bottom

In one of Sunday’s matches in the men’s volleyball Daido Life SV.League in Japan, Toray Arrows Shizuoka upset their hosts Nagano Tridents and managed to push up from the bottom of the current standings, leaving Voreas Hokkaido in their place. Meanwhile, with two wins each, leaders Osaka Bluteon and Suntory Sunbirds Osaka kept their positions on top of the table, but are now separated only on set ratios.

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In Saturday’s first game between Nagano Tridents and Toray Arrows Shizuoka, the home team achieved a tight 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 30-28) victory over their visitors from the very bottom of the table. Their Canadian opposite Matthew Neaves contributed a team-high 19 points, including an ace, while his Russian counterpart Kirill Klets delivered 23 points for Toray Arrows, including three aces and two kill blocks. Klets’s brilliant performance continued on Sunday, when he put away a match-high 29 points, including another three aces and a block. This time his and his teammates’ efforts fueled Toray Arrows’ surprising 3-2 (27-25, 21-25, 18-25, 25-11, 18-16) win that helped them rise two spots up to eighth place on a 2-6 win-loss ratio and 7 points. Nagano failed to capitalize on the opportunity to jump into the top half of the table and only rose to sixth place on 3-5 and 12.

Table leaders Osaka Bluteon did not stumble upon their visit to third-placed JTEKT Stings Aichi and won both games of that double header. The first one on Saturday went 3-1 (25-14, 28-26, 22-25, 25-22) with a match-high 27 points from Cuban outside hitter Miguel Lopez, including two blocks.

On Sunday, with a match-high 26 points from French opposite Stephen Boyer, Aichi pushed the mighty opponents to five sets, but suffered another loss, 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 27-25, 21-25, 15-9). Lopez was once again the best scorer for the winners, with three aces and a block towards a 23-point tally. Thus, Bluteon kept their position on top of the standings, now on 7-1 and 20, while Aichi dropped to fifth place on 4-4 and 12.

Unlike their city rivals, second-placed Suntory Sunbirds Osaka took the full six points from their home games against Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers and improved to 7-1 and 20, with just two sets lost more than Bluteon. A match-high 20 points from Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy, including four blocks and two aces fueled Suntory Sunbirds’ 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-20) victory on Saturday. Sakai took the first set of the game on Sunday, but the three points still went the home team’s way after a 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19) turnaround. Muserskiy was above all again, with 28 points, including three blocks and two aces. Sakai fell to second from the bottom, in ninth place on 2-6 and 6.

Wolfdogs Nagoya bit Tokyo Great Bears badly twice in straight sets on Thursday and Friday. In the first match at the Toyota Arena in the Japanese capital, the visitors hammered out a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-23) shutout with a match-high 16 points by outside hitter Taito Mizumachi, including three aces. Mizumachi was even more prolific from the serving line on Friday, when he fired five aces and put up two kill blocks to top the charts of the 3-0 (25-23, 30-28, 25-18) victory with a total of 17 points. These results lifted Nagoya to third place on 5-3 and 15, and pushed Tokyo down to seventh place on 3-5 and 8.

Two straight-set home wins over Voreas Hokkaido propelled Hiroshima Thunders to fourth place on 5-3 and 14 and pushed their opponents down to the bottom of the table, 10^th place on 2-6 and 6, and a lower set ratio than Sakai. American outside Cooper Robinson produced a match-high 15 points, all in swings at a 56% success rate, towards Saturday’s 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-16) shutout, while his cross-court teammate, captain Yudai Arai, impressed with five aces and a block towards a match-high 17 points in Sunday’s 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 27-25) sweep.

Another full set of five double headers will be played next weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, November 22 and 23.

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