Recap of men’s SV.League 15th-leg matches
The players of Wolfdogs Nagoya celebrate their victory at Suntory Sunbirds Osaka in Saturday (Photo source: @Wolfdogs_NAGOYA)
Wolfdogs Nagoya achieved two away victories over defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka to overtake them in second place of the current men’s Daido Life SV.League standings in Japan. A straight-set win on the road for bottom-placed Voreas Hokkaido over JTEKT Stings Aichi was among the unexpected results that the 15th leg of regular season action produced this weekend.
- Watch Japan’s SV.League on VBTV.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DF1cHukhNbj/?igsh=MXdsa3M1cW43dXdyMw==
Saturday’s opener between Suntory Sunbirds Osaka and Wolfdogs Nagoya delivered a five-set battle, in which the visitors emerged with a 3-2 (30-28, 20-25, 21-25, 25-16, 15-13) victory over the home team in front of nearly five and a half thousand spectators on the stands. Dutch star Nimir Abdel-Aziz hammered out a fantastic 36 points, including two kill blocks and an ace, towards his team’s success and narrowly won the scoring race with his Russian counterpart Dmitriy Muserskiy, who finished with 35 points, including four blocks and three aces.
On Sunday, this time in front of over six and a half thousand fans, Nagoya got the job done in four sets, but the shorter time on the court did not stop Nimir from firing another 36-point match high, including as many as five aces and a block, towards Wolfdogs’ 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 28-26) win. Muserskiy raised as many as six kill blocks to tally a total of 28 points for the defending champions. Nagoya climbed to second place on a 23-7 win-loss ratio and 69 points, while Suntory descended to third on 20-8 and 61.
https://x.com/Wolfdogs_NAGOYA/status/1888480857670971826
“As with yesterday’s match, it was a very high-level game, so there were difficult times when we couldn’t find our rhythm, but the players were encouraged by the support of the fans and fought until the end with determination not to give up,” commented Wolfdogs’ Italian head coach Valerio Baldovin. “There will be more tough matches ahead, but let’s cherish these moments here and now.”
In the most shocking result of the weekend, Voreas Hokkaido shut out JTEKT Stings Aichi to score only their third win since the start of the season. Aichi pleased the home crowd with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-16) sweep of Saturday’s match, led by American outside hitter Torey DeFalco with a match-high 19 points, but on Sunday, Voreas stunned their hosts with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-21) shutout. This time a match-high 19 points was delivered by the winners’ opposite Chang Yu-Sheng of Chinese Taipei. Both teams kept their places in the table. Aichi are fifth, on 18-12 and 48, while Voreas keep trailing in 10th place, on 3-25 and 14.
Another upset was created by Hiroshima Thunders, who claimed a 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-23, 25-15) victory at fourth-placed Tokyo Great Bears on Saturday, led by outside hitter Yudai Arai with 23 points. On the following day, however, the home team bounced back with a hard-fought 3-2 (32-30, 17-25, 25-21, 28-30, 15-8) win. Their Polish opposite Maciej Muzaj fired a match-high 31 points. Tokyo kept the fourth place, now on 18-12 and 55, while Hiroshima moved down a spot, to seventh place on 12-18 and 37.
https://x.com/SVLEAGUE_JP/status/1888500615288082618
They were surpassed for the sixth place by Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers, who celebrated two wins on the road at Toray Arrows Shizuoka, keeping the opponents down in ninth place. Sakai stand on 12-16 and 37, while Toray Arrows are second from the bottom on 6-22 and 20. A five-set duel unfolded in Saturday’s fixture, with Sakai emerging victorious in the tie-breaker, 3-2 (25-22, 28-26, 22-25, 20-25, 15-11). Their Argentinean outside Luciano Palonsky topped the match charts with 31 points. Sakai took home another three points on Sunday, after a 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-22) sweep of the second encounter with Toray Arrows. This time Palonsky shared the top scorer honours with Canadian opposite Sharone Vernon-Evans as they contributed 16 points apiece towards the victory.
Osaka Bluteon did not face any serious issues on the way to two straight-set wins in their home double header against Nagano Tridents. Osaka continue to lead the table, on 25-3 and 74, while Nagano stand third from the bottom, in eighth place on 7-21 and 17. Three Bluteon players tapped into the double digits in each of the two games. Opposite Yuji Nishida (four aces) put away 15 points, American outside Thomas Jaeschke produced 14, while Cuban outside Miguel Lopez added another 13 points towards Saturday’s 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-23) shutout, while Lopez led the way with 15, Nishida tallied 14 and Jaeschke finished with 12 in Sunday’s 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-23) sweep.
https://x.com/OSAKA__BLUTEON/status/1888519393002528897
Next weekend, February 15 and 16, will offer three double headers on the SV.League programme.
Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 16th leg:
Feb 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Osaka Bluteon
Feb 15, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Feb 15, 16:05 local (07:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Suntory Sunbirds Osaka
Feb 16, 13:05 local (05:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Osaka Bluteon
Feb 16, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Suntory Sunbirds Osaka
Feb 16, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Wolfdogs Nagoya
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
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.