AICHI AND TOKYO BOOK PLAYOFF SPOTS IN JAPAN

Recap of men’s SV.League 19th-leg matches

JTEKT Stings Aichi celebrate their qualification to the playoffs (source: @JTEKTSTINGS)

Two more teams – JTEKT Stings Aichi and Tokyo Great Bears – secured their spots in the playoffs of the men’s Daido Life SV.League in Japan, joining already qualified Osaka Bluteon, Wolfdogs Nagoya and Suntory Sunbirds Osaka, and leaving just one remaining vacancy up for grabs. As the matches of the 19th leg in the regular season took place this weekend, Aichi achieved two victories over Toray Arrows Shizuoka, while Tokyo failed to take a single set against Suntory Sunbirds, but thanks to Hiroshima Thunders’ two losses to Nagoya, also became untouchable among the top six in the regular season standings.

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JTEKT Stings Aichi managed two wins on the road at Toray Arrows Shizuoka and climbed to fourth place in the current standings on a 22-16 win-loss ratio and 59 points, leaving the opponent in eighth place on 10-26 and 31, still with a reasonable shot at the last playoff vacancy. On Saturday, the two teams put up a five-set duel, in which the visitors celebrated a 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 25-18, 17-25, 15-9) victory. Aichi’s American striker Torey DeFalco was on fire, producing a match-high 36 points, including two kill blocks and an ace. He led his team to a way more straight-forward 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-16) sweep of Sunday’s game with 25 points, including two blocks and two aces

https://x.com/JTEKTSTINGS/status/1901183350095724700

Tokyo Great Bears were surpassed by Aichi in the table after suffering two shutouts at home at the hands of defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka. Despite dropping to fifth on 20-18 and 63, Tokyo booked a playoff berth, as they can no longer be pushed below the sixth place in the final regular season standings. Suntory Sunbirds took the first game by 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-20) with Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy contributing a match-high 22 points, including two aces, and the second by 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-20) with Cuban outside hitter Alain De Armas leading the way with 18 points, including two aces and a block. The champions improved to 28-8 and 84 in third place.

https://x.com/SVLEAGUE_JP/status/1901187475667914986

Tokyo’s qualification came thanks to seventh-placed Hiroshima Thunders’ losses to Wolfdogs Nagoya at home. Standing on 14-24 and 44, Hiroshima can no longer catch up with the team from the capital in the table. Meanwhile, second-placed Nagoya consolidated their top-two position on 31-7 and 91. If they keep it by the end of the regular season, they will progress directly to the semifinals. In Saturday’s match, Wolfdogs hammered out a 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-21) sweep with a fantastic six aces towards a match-high 23 points by Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz. He fired “only” five aces on Sunday and topped the match charts with a 19-point total as Nagoya took out their hosts in straight sets again, 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-14).

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHP7z4KJ8RU/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers are currently the main candidate for the only remaining vacancy in the playoffs, as they occupy sixth place on 14-22 and 45. They managed to take home a point from their trip to table leaders Osaka Bluteon this weekend, who remained the forefront candidate for the direct tickets to the semifinals, now on 31-5 and 90. Despite a nail-biting second set, Osaka shaped up a 3-0 (25-19, 38-36, 25-21) sweep of the first game against Sakai, with Cuban outside Miguel Lopez as the top scorer with 25 points, including three aces. Another epic set gave the visitors the lead in the second match, which they even doubled before Bluteon mounted a furious comeback to snatch a 3-2 (33-35, 17-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-9) victory. Lopez once again led the winners with 20 points, including three aces and a block, but this time his Sakai counterpart Kosuke Yasui shined with five aces and two kill blocks towards a match-high 26-point total.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHOZLFFBw9Y/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

In the clash at the bottom of the table, Nagano Tridents and Voreas Hokkaido exchanged victories. The hosts took the three points in the first match with a 3-1 (25-27, 25-23, 25-18, 25-22) comeback win, inspired by Danish opposite Ulrik Dahl with a match-high 26 points. The second game went to five before Voreas could complete a turnaround from two sets down and celebrate a narrow 3-2 (18-25, 19-25, 25-19, 26-24, 16-14) victory, with opposite Chang Yu-Sheng of Chinese Taipei putting away a match-high 17 points. Nagano are ninth on 9-27 and 24, and Voreas are 10th on 5-31 and 21.

Another full set of five double headers will be played next weekend, on Saturday, March 22, and Sunday, March 23.

Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 20th leg:
Mar 22, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Nagano Tridents
Mar 22, 13:35 local (04:35 UTC): Voreas Hokkaido v Hiroshima Thunders
Mar 22, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Osaka Bluteon
Mar 22, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Mar 22, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Toray Arrows Shizuoka
Mar 23, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Nagano Tridents
Mar 23, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Mar 23, 13:35 local (04:35 UTC): Voreas Hokkaido v Hiroshima Thunders
Mar 23, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Osaka Bluteon
Mar 23, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Toray Arrows Shizuoka

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