Victorina upset defending champions Osaka in the opening weekend

Reigning champions Osaka Marvelous will have a hard time defending their national title in the 2025-2026 Japanese Daido Life SV.League, and they saw it right from the start, dropping their first two matches in the tournament this weekend.

Despite playing at home, the defending champions were taken down twice by Victorina Himeji in one of the seven doubleheaders that got the Japanese League started.

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The teams met for the first time on Friday, and Victorina prevailed 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21), counting on 23 points (20 kills, three blocks) from Italian outside hitter Camilla Mingardi, one of their offseason signings. Belgian opposite Lise Van Hecke scored 20 (17 kills, three blocks) for Osaka.

Their second encounter, on Saturday, went to five sets, but the visiting side came out on top again, winning 3-2 (17-25, 28-26, 23-25, 25-22, 15-11). This time, Japan’s national team player Airi Miyabe, who is playing as an opposite for Victorina, was the standout, registering 31 points for Victorina, with 28 kills and three blocks. Van Hecke produced 23 (21 kills, one block, one ace) for Osaka.

“We fought until the end and never gave up, and achieved an important victory as a team,” said Victorina’s head coach Avital Selinger. “With new players and some athletes playing different positions, not everything was beautiful, but we managed to win thanks to our determination. I’m sure the players were able to feel our growth during the match.”

Runners-up NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki, on the other hand, had a promising start, taking the SAGA Hisamitsu Springs down twice over the weekend without dropping sets - they won 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-23) on Saturday and got another sweep (25-20, 25-22, 25-20) on Sunday. American outside hitter Giovanna Day scored 18 points in the first match and another 22 in the second.

Another duel involving two top teams that was entirely dominated by one of them had the Denso Airybees beating the Toray Arrows Shiga 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-22) on Saturday and repeating the three-set (27-25, 25-22, 25-20) victory on Sunday. Brazilian opposite Sabrina Machado led the team in the first encounter with 14 points (12 kills, one block, one ace), while outside hitter Yuki Noda scored 12 (ten kills, two aces) on Sunday.

The KUROBE Aqua Fairies also produced back-to-back victories in the opening weekend, beating the Okayama Seagulls 3-1 (26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 25-13) on Friday and 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-17) on Saturday at home. German national team outside hitter Lena Stigrot produced 40 points across both matches.

The Saitama Ageo Medics also got a pair of home victories against the PFU Blue Cats Ishikawa Kahoku, but had to work hard for them, triumphing 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 15-11) on Saturday and prevailing 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 25-19) on Sunday. Captain Mami Uchiseto was the team's top scorer in both encounters, registering 19 points on Saturday and 17 on Sunday.

Astemo Rivale Ibaraki started the new season on the right foot, beating the Aranmare Yamagata in back-to-back road matches - they triumphed 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-17) on Saturday and repeated the four-set (25-18, 25-14, 14-25, 25-20) victory on Sunday. American outside hitter Mackenzie May was their standout in the series, producing 51 points across the two matches.

The only duel that had teams splitting wins reunited Queenseis Kariya and Gunma Green Wings. Despite playing on the road, Gunma won the first match, on Sunday, 3-1 (29-31, 25-19, 27-25, 25-21) with Polish outside hitter Olivia Różański scoring 23 points. On Monday, the Queenseis regrouped and triumphed 3-1 (21-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-22) with Russian outside hitter Sofya Kuznetsova registering 26 points.

Another 14 matches will be held in the Japanese League - half on Saturday and the other half on Sunday.

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