SV.LEAGUE WEEKEND SERVES OFF WITH BIG CLASH BETWEEN SUNTORY AND NAGOYA

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The 15th leg in the men’s Daido Life SV.League in Japan will get underway on Saturday morning with a big match between Suntory Sunbirds Osaka and Wolfdogs Nagoya, running second and third close to one another in the current standings. The two rivals will meet again on Sunday in one of the five double headers to take place over the weekend.

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Suntory Sunbirds Osaka and Wolfdogs Nagoya will open both competition days at 13:05 local time (04:05 UTC). The big matches will be played at the Asue Arena Osaka. Defending champions Suntory arrive on the wave of a nine-match winning streak, which has propelled them up to second place on a 20-6 win-loss ratio and 60 points. Nagoya are just below them in the table, in third place on 21-7 and 64, and if they win both games this weekend, they will surpass the opponents in the standings.

The two teams have already played four times this season, all in December. In the first double header between them, played at the Entrio in Aichi, hosts Nagoya won the first match by 3-1, but lost the second after a five-set battle. Three weeks later, at the Edion Arena in Osaka, hosts Suntory lost the first game in five sets, but won the second in four. The two clubs have met 25 times in Japanese league history, with Sunbirds winning 14 of them, plus one golden set, while Nagoya have celebrated the victory 11 times.

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Osaka Bluteon will try to somehow take advantage of the scuffle between Suntory and Nagoya and widen their lead at the top of the table, where they stand on 23-3 and 68. On Saturday and Sunday at 14:05 (05:05), Osaka are hosting Nagano Tridents at the Panasonic Arena. Nagano are third from the bottom, in eighth place on 7-19 and 17. When Nagano hosted Osaka for their first double header of the season in November and December, the visitors shut them out in both matches. In fact, Bluteon are on an impeccable streak of six consecutive straight-set victories over Nagano, who last won a match and even a set against this opponent back in March 2023.

Fourth-placed Tokyo Great Bears, standing on 17-11 and 53, and sixth-placed Hiroshima Thunders, on 11-17 and 33, will meet at the iconic Ariake Coliseum in the Japanese capital at 15:05 (06:05) on Saturday and at 14:05 (05:05) on Sunday. Earlier this season, in October, Tokyo won both matches with Hiroshima on the road, the first by 3-2 and the second by 3-1.

At 14:05 (05:05) on both competition days, JTEKT Stings Aichi will welcome Voreas Hokkaido to the Okazaki Central Park Martial Arts Arena. Aichi are running in fifth place on 17-11 and 45, while Voreas trail bottom, in 10th place on 2-24 and 11. When they first met this season, on December 7 in Hokkaido, the hosts put up a five-set battle before conceding. The next day JTEKT won again, but this time in straight sets, improving the overall head-to-head standing in the league to 5-1 their way.

Also starting at 14:05 (05:05) on both Saturday and Sunday, Toray Arrows Shizuoka will entertain Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers at the Koryo Arena. Toray Arrows stand next-to-last, in ninth place on 6-20 and 19, while Sakai are two spots above them, in seventh place on 10-16 and 32. In December, Sakai won the first match at Toray Arrows in four sets, but the hosts found some redemption in the second after winning a five-set duel.

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Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 15th leg:
Feb 08, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Feb 08, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Feb 08, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Voreas Hokkaido
Feb 08, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Bluteon v Nagano Tridents
Feb 08, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Hiroshima Thunders
Feb 09, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Feb 09, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Feb 09, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Voreas Hokkaido
Feb 09, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Osaka Bluteon v Nagano Tridents
Feb 09, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Hiroshima Thunders

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