NIMIR, MIYAURA AND DEFALCO SCORE AWAY IN QUARTERFINAL OPENERS

Recap of men’s SV.League first-leg quarterfinals

Nimir in action

Nimir Abdel-Aziz, Kento Miyaura and Torey DeFalco put their scoring prowess on display on Friday as they led their teams to home victories in the opening matches of the best-of-three quarterfinal playoffs in the men’s Daido Life SV.League in Japan. The Dutch opposite spearheaded Wolfdogs Nagoya to a four-set win over Hiroshima Thunders, while the other two powered JTEKT Stings Aichi to success against Tokyo Great Bears, which also came after four sets of play.

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Nimir was unstoppable in Nagoya’s 3-1 (25-17, 31-29, 21-25, 25-16) victory over Hiroshima in the first match of their quarterfinal series, which put Wolfdogs within a win of snatching a semifinal spot. Spiking at a 61% success rate, the Dutch star produced 27 scoring swings, to which he added two aces and a kill block to pile up an impressive 30-point tally. Outside hitter Akito Yamazaki impressed with five kill blocks towards a 21-point total, while captain Kenta Takanashi also reached the double digits with four blocks and six kills in attack. Outside Yudai Arai led Hiroshima’s scorers with 20 points. His Cuban cross-court teammate Oreol Camejo added another 16, while middle blocker Hiromasa Miwa finished with 11. The second match at the Entrio is on Saturday at 15:35 local time (06:35 UTC).

Miyaura and DeFalco shared the top scorer honors in Aichi’s 3-1 (25-16, 31-29, 16-25, 25-23) win over Tokyo. The Japanese opposite delivered two aces and 23 points in attack at a 55% success rate, while the American outside raised three kill blocks and fired 22 kills in offense. Brazilian outside Ricardo Lucarelli chipped in with 15 points, including three aces and a block. His Portuguese counterpart Alexandre Ferreira was Tokyo’s most prolific player with 21 points, including three blocks. Rikuto Goto put away another 18 points, while Polish opposite Maciej Muzaj finished with 10. The two teams will meet again at the Okazaki Central Park Martial Arts Arena on Saturday at 18:05 (09:05).

https://x.com/SVLEAGUE_JP/status/1913243449798906278

Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 quarterfinals:
Apr 19, 15:35 local (06:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Hiroshima Thunders
Apr 19, 18:05 local (09:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Tokyo Great Bears
Apr 20, 15:35 local (06:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Hiroshima Thunders (if necessary)
Apr 20, 18:05 local (09:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Tokyo Great Bears (if necessary)

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