Recap of women’s SV.League 20th-leg matches
Toray Arrows’ Sylvia Nwakalor put together a fantastic 44 points towards Sunday’s win over Ageo
Saga Hisamitsu Springs, Saitama Ageo Medics and Toray Arrows Shiga became the fourth, the fifth and the sixth teams with guaranteed berths in the women’s Daido Life SV.League playoffs and joined already qualified Osaka Marvelous, NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki and Denso Airybees Koriyama as quarterfinalists. Meanwhile, Gunma Green Wings wrote some history by achieving their first ever win in the SV.League, while PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku stunned leaders Osaka Marvelous with an away victory, as the games of the 20th leg in the regular season unfolded this weekend.
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https://x.com/SVLEAGUE_JP/status/1901199365114314767
Before the weekend, Saitama Ageo Medics needed to earn just a point from their trip to Toray Arrows Shiga to mathematically claim their place in the quarterfinals. However, the hosts produced a 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-12) sweep of the first match on Saturday with a match-high 19 points from Italian opposite Sylvia Nwakalor and left Ageo hanging. Medics lost Sunday’s match as well, but this time picked up the coveted point by pushing the game to five. Nwakalor delivered an out-of-this-world match high of 44 points towards Toray Arrows’ 3-2 (25-20, 25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 15-13) victory. Ageo dropped to fifth place in the current standings on a 24-14 win-loss ratio and 73 points, but can no longer be pushed out of the top eight by the end of the regular season. Meanwhile, Toray Arrows not only extended their impressive winning streak to 11 consecutive matches and climbed to sixth place on 24-14 and 69, but, thanks to the results of other matches this weekend, also booked their spot in the playoffs.
https://x.com/SVLEAGUE_JP/status/1900815324725092569
Saga Hisamitsu Springs needed to collect three points from their home games against defending champions NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki to officially register as a quarterfinalist. They did it on Saturday with a 3-1 (29-31, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22) comeback win, spearheaded by American opposite Stephanie Samedy with a 30-point match high. The girls from Kawasaki struck back on Sunday with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 19-25, 26-24) victory, driven by outside hitter Yoshino Sato with a match-high 20 points. Saga climbed to fourth place on 24-14 and 73, and a better set ratio than Ageo. NEC kept their second place, now on 28-10 and 84.
https://x.com/SVLEAGUE_JP/status/1900836312841920820
Victorina Himeji also traded four-set victories with Denso Airybees Koriyama, but that proved insufficient for the playoffs just yet, as they actually dropped to seventh place on 23-15 and 67, surpassed by Toray and two points short of mathematical qualification. Denso kept their third place, now on 27-11 and 83. Outside hitter Arisa Inoue contributed a match-high 24 points to Himeji’s 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22) win on Saturday. Brazilian opposite Rosamaria Montibeller powered Denso to a 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23) win on Sunday with a match-high 23 points, including four kill blocks.
While Himeji look almost certain to become the seventh quarterfinalist, there are at least three teams with realistic aspirations for the last remaining playoff vacancy. Among them, Astemo Rivale Ibaraki edge ahead, standing in eighth place on 19-19 and 54. American opposite Mackenzie May chipped in 13 points towards Saturday’s 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-12) shutout of Aranmare Yamagata to share the top scorer honors with teammate Fuyumi Hawi Okumu Oba. On Sunday, May kept the top scorer position to herself with a 15-point contribution to another 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-17) sweep. Aranmare stand second from the bottom, in 13th place on 5-33 and 16.
https://x.com/PFUBlueCats/status/1900800264430379127
Ninth place is taken by PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku on 17-21 and 50. On Saturday, they delivered one of the two most shocking surprises of the weekend, a 3-2 (14-25, 25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 16-14) away win over table leaders Osaka Marvelous. Opposite Melissa Valdes led PFU with 25 points, while her Belgian counterpart Lise Van Hecke put away a match-high 30 (including four kill blocks) for Osaka. On Sunday, Marvelous allowed no more surprises and mastered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-23) shutout with Van Hecke topping the charts with 18 points. Osaka stand in first place on 31-7 and 95.
On 16-22 and 50, 10th-placed Queenseis Kariya are not far behind PFU and Astemo in the table. They could have been even ahead of PFU, if they had not allowed Gunma Green Wings their first win of the season in the other true shocker of the weekend. On Sunday, Gunma wrote history with their first ever win in the league, a 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-19) shutout of their visitors from Kariya. Gunma’s outside Minami Takaso was the best scorer of the match with 15 points. On the day before, Kariya celebrated a 3-1 (25-23, 25-16, 28-30, 25-23) victory, led by a brilliant Kaja Grobelna. The Belgian opposite raised six kill blocks and fired two aces to finish with a match-high 29 points. This way, on 1-35 and 5, Gunma are no longer winless at the bottom of the table.
https://x.com/GGreenwings/status/1901199840933183599
Kurobe Aqua Fairies and Okayama Seagulls engaged in two five-set battles, with the visitors from Okayama emerging victorious in both. Outside hitter Yuri Takayanagi led Seagulls to Saturday’s nail-biting 3-2 (24-26, 35-33, 26-24, 18-25, 16-14) win with 26 points, while her German counterpart Lena Stigrot fired 39 for Kurobe. Opposite Rinka Komatsubara topped the charts in Sunday’s match with 24 points towards another 3-2 (14-25, 25-21, 25-16, 21-25, 15-12) victory for Okayama. Kurobe are still above Okayama in the table. They stand 11th on 13-25 and 38, while Seagulls are in 12th place on 12-24 and 35.
Next weekend’s 21st leg will offer six double headers on the program for March 22 and 23.
Women’s SV.League 2024-2025 21st leg:
Mar 22, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Denso Airybees Koriyama v Saitama Ageo Medics
Mar 22, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku v Saga Hisamitsu Springs
Mar 22, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Queenseis Kariya v Victorina Himeji
Mar 22, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Okayama Seagulls v Astemo Rivale Ibaraki
Mar 22, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Aranmare Yamagata v Gunma Green Wings
Mar 22, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki v Kurobe Aqua Fairies
Mar 23, 12:05 local (03:05 UTC): Aranmare Yamagata v Gunma Green Wings
Mar 23, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Denso Airybees Koriyama v Saitama Ageo Medics
Mar 23, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): PFU BlueCats Ishikawa Kahoku v Saga Hisamitsu Springs
Mar 23, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Queenseis Kariya v Victorina Himeji
Mar 23, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Okayama Seagulls v Astemo Rivale Ibaraki
Mar 23, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki v Kurobe Aqua Fairies
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