ANOTHER EXCITING WEEKEND IN WOMEN’S SV.LEAGUE IN JAPAN COMING UP

Watch the women’s SV.League in Japan live on VBTV

Table leaders Osaka Marvelous (source: @Marvelous_JT)

Table leaders Osaka Marvelous will host fourth-placed Saitama Ageo Medics in one of the seven double headers of this weekend’s 18th leg of the women’s Daido Life SV.League in Japan. There will be a high-level clash between Saga Hisamitsu Springs and Denso Airybees Koriyama, while PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku will try to stay closer to the playoff zone as they take on Astemo Rivale Ibaraki.

• Watch Japan’s SV.League on VBTV.

Osaka Marvelous will entertain Saitama Ageo Medics at the Life partner Arena at 13:05 local time (04:05 UTC) on Saturday and Sunday, March 1 and 2. Osaka are in first place in the current standings on a 27-5 win-loss ratio and 82 points, taking the role of heavy favourites against their visitors, who stand fourth on 21-11 and 63. It will be the first time the two teams meet this season, but Osaka are on a winning streak of 11 consecutive victories in the head-to-head series from previous league seasons. The last time Ageo managed to beat their opponents was back over five years ago, in December 2019.

https://x.com/Marvelous_JT/status/1894250971423019482

Second-placed Denso Airybees Koriyama will pay a visit to Saga Hisamitsu Springs, who are sixth in the table on 19-13 and 58. Denso stand on 25-7 and 77 and are one of the two teams, together with Osaka, who have already booked their spots in the quarterfinal playoffs. The games at the Saga Arena will start at 14:05 (05:05) on both competition days. When Denso hosted Saga in November, they took the first match in four sets, but had to battle back from two sets down before winning the second.

There will be an important encounter between PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku and Astemo Rivale Ibaraki, the two teams right below and above the cut-off line for the playoffs. Hosts PFU are in ninth place on 13-19 and 38, while Astemo stand eighth on 17-15 and 48. Even if the home team collects the full six points from this double header, it will not be able to surpass their opponent in the table, but they certainly need them, in order to stay in close contention for the quarterfinals. Both games at the Shiwa Town General Gymnasium start at 13:05 (04:05). In their previous meeting in December, hosts Astemo managed to earn the full six points.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGj4qihzugg/?igsh=dW55a2U4MHJldndh

Standing on 12-20 and 38 in 10th place, Queenseis Kariya also have a good opportunity to get closer to the playoff zone as they host Okayama Seagulls for two matches at the Sky Hall Toyota, also starting 13:05 (04:05). Okayama are not too far behind either, in 12th place on 10-20 and 31. When the two teams first met this season in October, Kariya came back from two sets down to win at Okayama, but the next day the hosts got back at them with a straight-set win.

Defending champions NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki will be able to reserve their ticket to the playoffs this weekend, independent from other results, if they collect at least five points from their trip to Aranmare Yamagata. NEC are in third place on 23-9 and 70, while their hosts are second from the bottom, in 13th place on 5-27 and 16. The two matches at the Tsurushin Arena Komagihara will begin at 14:05 (05:05) on Saturday and at 13:05 (04:05) on Sunday. NEC produced two shutouts of Aranmare at home when they met earlier this season.

https://x.com/volleyballworld/status/1894975870646821152

Victorina Himeji will host Kurobe Aqua Fairies at the Victorina Wink Gymnasium at 13:05 (04:05) on Saturday and at 14:05 (05:05) on Sunday, after the two sides exchanged three-point wins when Kurobe welcomed Himeji to the Ariso Dome in January. Now Himeji are fifth in the standings on 20-12 and 57, while Kurobe occupy 11th place on 12-20 and 34.

Winless Gunma Green Wings will take another go at earning their first victory of the season as they entertain Toray Arrows Shiga at the Yamato Citizen Gymnasium Maebashi at 14:05 (05:05) on both competition days. Gunma trail in 14th place on 0-30 and 2, while Toray Arrows are seventh on 18-14 and 52. One of the two points Gunma have claimed so far this season came from their visit to Toray Arrows in November, when they pushed the opponent to the overtime of the tie-breaker before conceding defeat in the first game.

https://x.com/SVLEAGUE_JP/status/1894673770679321071

Women’s SV.League 2024-2025 18th leg:
Mar 01, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku v Astemo Rivale Ibaraki
Mar 01, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Queenseis Kariya v Okayama Seagulls
Mar 01, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Osaka Marvelous v Saitama Ageo Medics
Mar 01, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Victorina Himeji v Kurobe Aqua Fairies
Mar 01, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Aranmare Yamagata v NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki
Mar 01, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Gunma Green Wings v Toray Arrows Shiga
Mar 01, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Saga Hisamitsu Springs v Denso Airybees Koriyama
Mar 02, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku v Astemo Rivale Ibaraki
Mar 02, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Queenseis Kariya v Okayama Seagulls
Mar 02, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Osaka Marvelous v Saitama Ageo Medics
Mar 02, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Aranmare Yamagata v NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki
Mar 02, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Victorina Himeji v Kurobe Aqua Fairies
Mar 02, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Gunma Green Wings v Toray Arrows Shiga
Mar 02, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Saga Hisamitsu Springs v Denso Airybees Koriyama

QUICK LINKS

AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net

AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation

AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball

AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en

Mikasa Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/mikasasports_official

AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation

AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation