SAKAI AND HIROSHIMA NECK AND NECK FOR LAST REMAINING PLAYOFF VACANCY

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Hiroshima Thunders’ players celebrate (source: @Thunders_JT)

Mathematically, all teams that have not qualified for the men’s Daido Life SV.League playoffs yet are still in contention for the last vacancy, but let’s focus on the two teams with the most realistic chances of finishing the regular season in Japan in sixth place and grabbing the last available quarterfinal spot. Running neck and neck in the current standings, Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers and Hiroshima Thunders are the teams really looking forward to competing beyond the end of the regular season. They are facing different challenges this weekend, when the five double headers of the 20th leg will be played.

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Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers have a really tough one. On Saturday at 15:05 local time (06:05 UTC) and on Sunday at 13:05 (04:05), they will host second-placed Wolfdogs Nagoya at the Ohama Daishin Arena. Sakai are currently holding the coveted sixth place on a 14-22 win-loss ratio and 45 points. Their opponents are all set for the playoffs, but they are aiming higher, at the direct tickets to the semifinals, which come with the top two places in the final regular season standings. Nagoya stand in the runner-up position on 31-7 and 91. When Wolfdogs hosted Blazers in November, they swept both matches in straight sets.

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Hiroshima Thunders are slightly below Sakai in the table, in seventh place on 14-24 and 45, but they have a perceivably less difficult task ahead this weekend. They will travel to bottom-placed Voreas Hokkaido for two games at the Recruit Staffing Rick&Sue Asahikawa Gymnasium on Saturday and Sunday at 13:35 (04:35). 10th-placed Voreas trail bottom on 5-31 and 21. In November at home, Hiroshima beat them twice, by 3-0 and by 3-1.

Table leaders Osaka Bluteon have a tough visit at JTEKT Stings Aichi. Topping the standings on 31-5 and 90, they need to keep the wins coming in order to secure a top-two finish and a direct passage to the semis. Their hosts are fourth on 22-16 and 59. The two star-studded squads will lock horns at the Okazaki Central Park Martial Arts Arena at 14:05 (05:05) on both competition days. They have already met four times this season, but this will be the first time Aichi play host to Osaka. Bluteon won three of the previous four encounters by 3-0 or 3-1, while JTEKT managed to upset them once in a five-set battle.

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Defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka are the only team that can still challenge Osaka and Nagoya for the first two places in the final regular season standings. They are running third on 28-8 and 84. On Saturday and Sunday at 13:05 (04:05), Suntory Sunbirds will entertain Nagano Tridents at the Ookini Arena Maishima, hoping to beat this opponent for the third and the fourth time this season, after outplaying them on the road twice earlier this month. Nagano stand second from the bottom, in ninth place on 9-27 and 24.

Tokyo Great Bears will host Toray Arrows Shizuoka at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza at 15:05 (06:05) on Saturday and at 14:05 (05:05) on Sunday. In fifth place on 20-18 and 63, Tokyo are one of the teams already qualified for the quarterfinals, while Toray Arrows are still in contention with a distant shot at it, standing eighth on 10-26 and 31. The previous four matches between the two teams this season were all resolved in favor of hosts Great Bears, with the squad from Shizuoka managing only to push one of the matches to five sets.

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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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