Osaka and NEC face off in SV.League’s top-of-the-table duel

With the regular season coming to an end in the 2024-2025 women’s Daido Life SV.League and all eight teams that will compete in the playoffs already confirmed, getting the best possible seeding before the start of the postseason and fine-tuning the game are big priorities for the qualified teams.

Ranked first and second respectively in the standings, Osaka Marvelous and NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki will have a great opportunity to test themselves before the quarterfinals this weekend, when they meet twice in the 23^rd leg of the regular season – they play on Saturday and Sunday, in Osaka, at 13:05 local time (4:05 GMT).

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After confirming the top seed for the playoffs last week, when they claimed their 33^rd victory in 40 matches, Osaka can now fully focus on preparing for the quarterfinals, where they will face Astemo Rivale Ibaraki, who booked their spot in the last leg and will be ranked eighth heading into the postseason. With two games in hand, they will also play the Toray Arrows Shiga twice next week.

The defending champions and the second-best team in the standings, NEC should be a great test for the top-ranked side as the teams split wins they met for the first time in the regular season, back in January.

NEC enter the weekend determined to secure the second seed for the playoffs. With 30 wins and 12 losses and only two more matches to play in the regular season, they need to beat Osaka at least once to be sure they will be ranked above Denso Airybees Koriyama and Saga Hisamitsu Springs, which have each 28 wins and 14 losses and are both vying for second place.

Both teams will be at home this weekend, with Denso hosting ninth-placed Queenseis Kariya on Saturda and Sunday at 13:05 local time (4:05 GMT) and Hisamitsu welcoming 13^th-placed Aranmare Yamagata one hour later on the same days.

Toray, Saitama and Himeji look to be among the top four

Ranked fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, Toray (25-15), Saitama Ageo Medics (26-16) and Victorina Himeji (26-16) can still get into the top four if they win both their matches and other results help.

Toray, who will have two more matches to play next week, against Osaka, and Himeji will face each other, with the duels happening on Saturday and Sunday at 14:05 local time (5:05 GMT). Saitama will be at home against eighth-placed Astemo, who they face twice at 13:05 local time (4:05 GMT).

The 23^rd leg of regular season will also feature a pair of duels involving teams positioned in the lower half of the standings, with 11^th-placed KUROBE Aqua Fairies Toyama hosting tenth-placed PFU Blue Cats Ishikawa Kahoku at 13:05 local time (4:05 GMT) on Saturday and Sunday and 14^th-placed Gunma Green Wings playing 12^th-placed Okayama Seagulls one hour later on both days.

Ten of the 14 teams that compete in the SV.League will complete their regular season schedules this weekend, with the other four still having a pair of matches to play next weekend.

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