SV.LEAGUE ACTION TO RESUME WITH BIG CLASH BETWEEN SUNTORY AND JTEKT

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After a weekend off, dedicated to the All-Star Game showdown, the men’s Daido Life SV.League is set to resume with the 10 matches of the 14th leg on the first two days of February. The five double headers on Saturday and Sunday are highlighted by a big clash between Suntory Sunbirds Osaka and JTEKT Stings Aichi, which will get the action underway at 12:05 local time (03:05 UTC) on both competition days.

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Defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka are riding the momentum of a solid seven-match winning streak, which has propelled them up to second place in the current standings on an 18-6 win-loss ratio and 55 points. Furthermore, Suntory Sunbirds have not lost a single set over their four most recent games. JTEKT Stings Aichi will, of course, try to stop the opponents’ victorious run and build one of their own, after finally putting an end to their negative streak of six defeats in a row with a five-set away win at Hiroshima Thunders in their last match some two weeks ago. Aichi stand fourth in the table on 17-9 and 44 and need to bring home some wins and points from the double header at the Ookini Arena Maishima to minimize the risk of dropping further down the standings.

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Even if the two teams’ big Japanese stars – Suntory’s Ran Takahashi and Taishi Onodera, and JTEKT’s Kento Miyaura, recovering from health issues – do not make it to the court this weekend, there will be plenty of stellar presence in the two clashes, like that of Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy or Polish outside hitter Aleksander Sliwka on the home side, and that of Aichi’s American striker Torey DeFalco, who spearheaded the winning team and earned the Most Valuable Player honour in last weekend’s All-Star Game.

When JTEKT Stings Aichi hosted Suntory Sunbirds Osaka for their first double encounter this season in November, the two sides exchanged 3-1 victories. By winning the second game of that double header, Stings put an end to Suntory Sunbirds’ victory run of 13 consecutive matches in the head-to-head series and celebrated their first success over this opponent since March 2021.

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Table leaders Osaka Bluteon will play at home, at the Panasonic Arena, this weekend. Yuji Nishida and company will host Hiroshima Thunders at 14:05 (05:05) on both competition days, aiming to extend the eight-match winning streak that has led them to the first place on 21-3 and 62. Hiroshima are on top of the second half of the table, in sixth place on 11-15 and 33.

They are one of only three teams that have managed to defeat Osaka Bluteon so far this season. They did it in five sets at the very same Panasonic Arena on October 19, with Brazilian opposite Felipe Roque raising a solid seven kill blocks to finish on a match-high 28 points, ending a 17-game Osaka domination in the head-to-head series (Thunders’ previous win over this opponent dates back to February 2020). On the following day, however, Bluteon got back at their visitors with a clean sweep of the second match of the double header.

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Wolfdogs Nagoya will welcome Toray Arrows Shizuoka to the Entrio on Saturday at 15:35 (06:35) and on Sunday at 14:35 (05:35). Nagoya, who are running third in the table on 19-7 and 58, shut out Toray Arrows in both matches of their previous double header in November. The squad from Shizuoka stands third from the bottom, in eighth place on 6-18 and 19.

Tokyo Great Bears will visit Nagano Tridents at the Swan Dome at 14:05 (05:05) on Saturday and at 13:05 (04:05) on Sunday. The team from the capital occupies fifth place on 16-10 and 49, while the home team is next to last, in ninth place on 6-18 and 15. It will be the third double header between the two sides this season. Nagano managed to claim only one set in the previous four matches.

Seventh-placed Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers will entertain bottom-of-the-table Voreas Hokkaido for two games at the Ohama Daishin Arena. The first match will start at 15:05 (06:05) on Saturday, and the second – at 13:05 (04:05) on Sunday. Sakai stand on 8-16 and 27, while Voreas are in 10th place on 2-22 and 10. Blazers have won all six previous encounters with Voreas, including the two (3-2 and 3-1) earlier this season.

Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 14th leg:
Feb 01, 12:05 local (03:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Feb 01, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Nagano Tridents v Tokyo Great Bears
Feb 01, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Bluteon v Hiroshima Thunders
Feb 01, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Voreas Hokkaido
Feb 01, 15:35 local (06:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Toray Arrows Shizuoka
Feb 02, 12:05 local (03:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v JTEKT Stings Aichi
Feb 02, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nagano Tridents v Tokyo Great Bears
Feb 02, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Voreas Hokkaido
Feb 02, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Bluteon v Hiroshima Thunders
Feb 02, 14:35 local (05:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Toray Arrows Shizuoka

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