Ageo and Astemo head to head in chase of playoff spot in Japan

The upcoming weekend in the women’s Daido Life SV.League in Japan offers five double headers on its program. The most unpredictable of the 10 matches on Saturday and Sunday feature two teams that are well in the race for the spots in the playoffs – Saitama Ageo Medics and Astemo Rivale Ibaraki.

• Watch Japan's SV.League on VBTV

Saitama Ageo Medics will host Astemo Rivale Ibaraki at the Ota City General Gymnasium on Saturday and Sunday at 13:05 local time (04:05 UTC). Both teams are running below the playoff zone in the current standings, but not far from it. Ageo are in ninth place on a 14-16 win-loss ratio and 40 points, just a point below the cut-off for the quarterfinals, while Astemo stand 11^th on 13-17 and 40, which means that either of them have a decent shot at moving up to eighth place by the end of the weekend. Ageo will have the home-court advantage, but they arrive at this double header on a negative run of six consecutive losses. Their visitors, on the other hand, are on a five-game winning streak. It will be the second encounter between the two teams this season. When Astemo hosted the first one in January, Ageo brought home two wins, 3-2 and 3-0.

With the first seven teams in the table well ahead of the rest of the pack in the race towards the playoffs, it looks likely that the next four, among which Ageo and Astemo – as they are jammed closely together – will be scuffling for the eighth remaining vacancy. Kurobe Aqua Fairies are currently holding the eighth position in the standings on 14-16 and 41. This weekend they will welcome PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku to the Toyamaken Seibu Taiiku Center, starting at 14:05 (05:05) on both competition days. PFU are in fifth place on 19-11 and 62. It will be the first time Kurobe and PFU meet this season.

Denso Airybees Koriyama, occupying 10^th place on 13-17 and 41, are also well in the running for a quarterfinal berth. This weekend, they will visit Toray Arrows Shiga at the YMIT Arena. Both games will serve off at 15:05 (06:05). The team from Shiga is in 12^th place on 5-25 and 15, at this point an unlikely candidate for the top eight. In October, Denso mastered two straight-set home victories over Toray Arrows.

The two teams on top of the standings will travel to the two teams at the bottom this weekend. Table leaders NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki will visit Okayama Seagulls at the Shigeto Arena on Saturday at 13:05 (04:05) and on Sunday at 12:05 (03:05). Red Rockets are in first place on 26-4 and 73, while Seagulls are second from the bottom, in 13^th place on 4-26 and 15. They have not met this season yet.

Table trailers Aranmare Yamagata will entertain second-placed Saga Hisamitsu Springs at the Yamagata City Sports Center at 14:05 (05:05) on Saturday and at 13:05 (04:05) on Sunday. Aranmare are stuck at the bottom, in 14^th place on 3-27 and 10, while Saga stand in the runner-up position on 23-7 and 61. These two teams have not played one another this season either.

Women’s SV.League 2025-2026 17th leg:
Feb 21, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Okayama Seagulls v NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki
Feb 21, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Saitama Ageo Medics v Astemo Rivale Ibaraki
Feb 21, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Aranmare Yamagata v Saga Hisamitsu Springs
Feb 21, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Kurobe Aqua Fairies v PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku
Feb 21, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shiga v Denso Airybees Koriyama
Feb 22, 12:05 local (03:05 UTC): Okayama Seagulls v NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki
Feb 22, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Saitama Ageo Medics v Astemo Rivale Ibaraki
Feb 22, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Aranmare Yamagata v Saga Hisamitsu Springs
Feb 22, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Kurobe Aqua Fairies v PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku
Feb 22, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shiga v Denso Airybees Koriyama

Quick links:
Japanese SV.League - women
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter