SV. League quarterfinal matchups to be determined this week

The 2024-2025 women’s Daido Life SV.League regular season comes to an end this weekend and, although the eight teams that will compete in the playoffs are already known, there's still a lot on the table as the outcome of two of the four matches set to take place on Saturday and Sunday will determine three of the four quarterfinal matchups.

Currently appearing in fifth place in the standings, the Toray Arrows Shiga will meet league leaders Osaka Marvelous at home on Saturday and Sunday at 14:05 local time (5:05 GMT), and the results of these matches will determine the final placements of them and two other teams at the end of the regular season.

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Toray have 26 wins and 16 losses so far and, in order to preserve their spot ahead of the start of the playoffs, they need to win both matches this weekend – in that case, they would face fourth-placed Denso Airybees Koriyama in the quarterfinals.

If, on the contrary, they drop both matches, Toray would instead go down to seventh place, as they would be passed by both Saitama Ageo Medics and Victorina Himeji, who have 27 wins and 17 losses and have already completed their schedule. In that case, their quarterfinal opponents would be defending champions NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki, who are set to end the regular season in second place.

The third and most complex scenario will happen if Toray and Osaka split wins this weekend. In that case, the team would have the same campaign as both Saitama and Himeji and the tie-breakers would be needed to determine the three teams’ spots. If they end up in sixth place, Toray would then face third-placed Saga Hisamitsu Springs in the quarterfinals.

For Osaka, the results of this weekend’s match won’t alter their playoff path as the team guaranteed the top spot in the standings with 35 wins and seven losses accumulated so far and will meet Astemo Rivale Ibaraki, who will make it to the playoffs in eighth place.

The two teams have met twice this season, back in October, and Osaka, who played at home on the occasion, won both matches.

Okayama and Gunma end their campaigns

Two other matches will be held this weekend, involving teams which are in the bottom half of the standings, the Okayama Seagulls and the Gunma Green Wings – they will meet on Saturday and Sunday, at 13:05 local time (4:05 GMT).

The teams are eliminated from playoff contention, but can both still move up in the standings before the end of the regular season. Okayama, who are 12^th with 14 wins and 28 losses, can get to 11^th if they win both matches, as they would pass the KUROBE Aqua Fairies Toyama (15-29). Gunma are in last place with four wins and 38 losses, but can still move up to 13^th if they get a pair of victories and pass Aranmare Yamagata (5-39).

The teams met last weekend and Okayama won both matches.

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