Japan - V.League Premier 2013/2014

Matchday 21, March 8, 2014
JT Thunders 3-0 FC Tokyo (25-19, 25-21, 25-17), Igor Omcren (JT) 18
Toyota Gosei Trefuerza 3-0 Panasonic Panthers, (25-20, 25-18, 25-20), Takuya Takamatsu (Toyota) 19
Sakai Blazers 3-2 Toray Arrows (19-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-22, 16-14), Milan Pepic (Sakai) 24 & Yuta Yoneyama (Toray) 27
Suntory Sunbirds 3-2 J-TEKT Stings (21-25, 25-15, 17-25, 27-25, 15-12), Ryohsuke Tsubakiyama (Suntory) 35 & Yadier Sanchez (J-TEKT) 27

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 21, Wins, Sets Won-Lost
1. Panasonic Panthers, 15, 51-25
2. JT Thunders, 14, 48-37
3. Sakai Blazers, 14, 47-37
4. Toyota Gosei Trefuerza, 13, 47-34
----- Top 4 Teams Make Playoffs -----
5. Toray Arrows, 11, 47-43
6. Suntory Sunbirds, 10, 40-47
----- Bottom 2 Teams Make Relegation Playoffs -----
7. J-TEKT Stings, 4, 28-55
8. FC Tokyo, 3, 27-57

Starting the final leg (7 matches from tomorrow to finish the regular season)
J-TEKT and FC Tokyo are basically in the relegation playoffs
Suntory have played well lately, but their sets ratio will kill them.
Toray's loss today may have killed their playoff chances, 9 more set losses than Toyota hurts their sets ratio, plus two wins back.
Panasonic have been the best team but a 4-5 record against the top 4
JT in the same boat as Panasonic with a 4-5 record the top 4
Sakai and Toyota have the 5-4 records against the top 4

In my mind the current top 4 teams will make the playoffs, just the finishing spots could be different.

Statistics Leaders from the VLeague website through 21 matches

Best Scorer (kills + blocks + aces)
1. Milan Pepic (Sakai) 547
2. Igor Omcren (JT) 505
3. Miroslav Gradinarov (FC Tokyo) 435
4. Takuya Takamatsu (Toyota) 431

Best Attacker Percentage (kills/attempts)
1. Kunihiro Shimizu (Panasonic) 52.1%
2. Milan Pepic (Sakai) 50.8%
3. Yuu Koshikawa (JT) 49.6%

Kills per Set (kills/sets played)
1. Milan Pepic (Sakai) 5.51
2. Igor Omcren (JT) 5.25
3. Miroslav Gradinarov (FC Tokyo) 4.67
4. Takuya Takamatsu (Toyota) 4.67

Blocks per Set (blocks/sets played)
1. Takaaki Tomimatsu (Toray) 0.94
2. Kenji Shirasawa (Panasonic) 0.72
3. Yuta Yamamura (Suntory) 0.68

Serve Effectiveness (no touch ace x 100 + ace (touched) x 80 + effective serve x 25 / number of serves)
1. Yuu Koshikawa (JT) 21.4
2. Kazuhito Takahashi (J-TEKT) 18.7
3. Takuya Takamatsu (Toyota) 18.4
4. Milan Pepic (Sakai) 18.0

Best Serve Receiver (Excellents/Attempts x 100)
1. Koichiroh Koga (Toyota) 76.0%
2. Daisuke Sakai (JT) 74.2%
3. Takeshi Nagano (Panasonic) 73.5%
4. Kenji Sabettoh (Suntory) 71.8%
5. Dante Guimaraes Santos do Amaral (Panasonic) 70.3%

Matchday 22, March 9, 2014
Sakai Blazers 1-3 JT Thunders (18-25, 19-25, 25-20, 26-28), Igor Omcren (JT) 24 & Yuu Koshikawa (JT) 22
Toray Arrows 1-3 FC Tokyo (23-25, 22-25, 25-19, 20-25), Kazuki Maeda (FC Tokyo) 24 & Tatsuya Yoneyama (Suntory) 23
Panasonic Panthers 3-1 J-TEKT Stings (25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 25-17), Tatsuya Fukuzawa (Panasonic) 23
Suntory Sunbirds 3-0 Toyota Gosei Trefuerza (25-23, 25-21, 28-26), Leonardo Melo (Toyota) 18

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 22, Wins, Sets Won-Lost
1. Panasonic Panthers, 16, 54-26
2. JT Thunders, 15, 51-38
3. Sakai Blazers, 14, 48-40
4. Toyota Gosei Trefuerza, 13, 47-37
----- Top 4 Teams Make Playoffs -----
5. Toray Arrows, 11, 48-46
6. Suntory Sunbirds, 11, 43-47
----- Bottom 2 Teams Make Relegation Playoffs -----
7. FC Tokyo, 4, 30-58
8. J-TEKT Stings, 4, 29-58

Matchday 23, March 15, 2014
Toyota Gosei Trefuerza 0-3 Panasonic Panthers (23-25, 31-33, 15-25), Kunihiro Shimizu (Panasonic) 19
Sakai Blazers 3-1 Toray Arrows (25-20, 25-16, 21-25, 25-23), Milan Pepic (Sakai) 29
JT Thunders 0-3 FC Tokyo (23-25, 17-25, 21-25), Miroslav Gradinarov (FC Tokyo) 23
J-TEKT Stings 3-2 Suntory Sunbirds (25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-9), Kazuto Takahashi (J-TEKT) 23 and Ryohsuke Tsubakiyama (Suntory) 23

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 23, Wins, Sets Won-Lost
1. Panasonic Panthers, 17, 57-26 * clinched playoff spot
2. JT Thunders, 15, 51-41 (better points ratio)
3. Sakai Blazers, 15, 51-41
4. Toyota Gosei Trefuerza, 13, 47-40
----- Top 4 Teams Make Playoffs -----
5. Toray Arrows, 11, 49-49
6. Suntory Sunbirds, 11, 45-50
----- Bottom 2 Teams Make Relegation Playoffs -----
7. FC Tokyo, 5, 33-58
8. J-TEKT Stings, 5, 32-60

Matchday 24, March 16, 2014
J-TEKT Stings 0-3 Toray Arrows (24-26, 20-25, 18-25), Dejan Bojovic (Toray) 22
Panasonic Panthers 2-3 FC Tokyo (16-25, 25-10, 25-13, 21-25, 14-16), Miroslav Gradinarov (FC Tokyo) 17
JT Thunders 3-2 Toyota Gosei Trefuerza (25-21, 22-25, 22-25, 25-21, 12-15), Igor Omcren (JT) 30, Yuu Koshikawa (JT) 24 & Leonardo Melo (Toyota) 24
Suntory Sunbirds 2-3 Sakai Blazers (25-27, 25-22, 29-31, 25-23, 12-15), Masashi Kuriyama (Suntory) 25 & Milan Pepic (Sakai) 34

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 24, Wins, Sets Won-Lost
1. Panasonic Panthers, 17, 59-29 * clinched playoff spot
2. JT Thunders, 16, 54-43 (better points ratio)
3. Sakai Blazers, 16, 54-43
4. Toyota Gosei Trefuerza, 13, 49-43
----- Top 4 Teams Make Playoffs -----
5. Toray Arrows, 12, 52-49
6. Suntory Sunbirds, 11, 47-53
----- Bottom 2 Teams Make Relegation Playoffs -----
7. FC Tokyo, 6, 36-60
8. J-TEKT Stings, 5, 32-63

If the V-League used the 3,2,1,0 points system the standings would look like this.

1. Panasonic 52, 15-2-3-4
2. JT 44, 10-6-2-6
3. Sakai 43, 10-6-1-7
4. Toyota 40, 11-2-3-8
5. Toray 37, 8-4-5-7
6. Suntory 34, 7-4-5-8
7. FC Tokyo 21, 4-2-5-13
8. J-TEKT 17, 3-2-4-15

Matchday 25, March 22, 2014
Suntory Sunbirds 1-3 FC Tokyo (23-25, 25-22, 24-26, 14-25), Miroslav Gradinarov (FC Tokyo) 32 & Dai Tezuka (FC Tokyo) 21
J-TEKT Stings 0-3 JT Thunders (20-25, 18-25, 18-25), Igor Omcren (JT) 22
Toray Arrows 3-0 Toyota Gosei Trefuerza (29-27, 25-20, 25-15), Dejan Bojovic (Toray) 18
Sakai Blazers 2-3 Panasonic Panthers (25-18, 20-25, 19-25, 25-20, 13-15), Milan Pepic (Sakai) 25, Shunsuke Chijiki (Sakai) 22, Kunihiro Shimizu (Panasonic) 20 & Dante Guimaraes Santos do Amaral (Panasonic) 21

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 25, Wins, Sets Won-Lost
1. Panasonic Panthers, 18, 62-31 * clinched playoff spot
2. JT Thunders, 17, 57-43 * clinched playoff spot
3. Sakai Blazers, 16, 56-46
4. Toray Arrows, 13, 55-49
----- Top 4 Teams Make Playoffs -----
5. Toyota Gosei Trefuerza, 13, 49-46
6. Suntory Sunbirds, 11, 48-56
----- Bottom 2 Teams Make Relegation Playoffs -----
7. FC Tokyo, 7, 39-61
8. J-TEKT Stings, 5, 32-66

Matchday 26, March 23, 2014
Panasonic Panthers 3-1 Toray Arrows (25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21), Kunihiro Shimizu (Panasonic) 23 & Tatsuya Fukuzawa (Panasonic) 28
Sakai Blazers 3-2 Toyota Gosei Trefuerza (25-22, 25-21, 17-25, 24-26, 15-8), Milan Pepic (Sakai) 30 & Leonardo Melo (Toyota) 28
JT Thunders 3-0 Suntory Sunbirds (26-24, 25-20, 28-26), Igor Omcren (JT) 27
FC Tokyo 0-3 J-TEKT Stings (19-25, 16-25, 21-25), Shinichi Seino (J-TEKT) 15

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 26, Wins, Sets Won-Lost
1. Panasonic Panthers, 19, 65-32 * clinched playoff spot
2. JT Thunders, 18, 60-43 * clinched playoff spot
3. Sakai Blazers, 17, 59-48 * clinched playoff spot
4. Toray Arrows, 13, 56-52
----- Top 4 Teams Make Playoffs -----
5. Toyota Gosei Trefuerza, 13, 51-49
6. Suntory Sunbirds, 11, 48-59
----- Bottom 2 Teams Make Relegation Playoffs -----
7. FC Tokyo, 7, 39-64
8. J-TEKT Stings, 6, 35-66

Matchday 27, March 29, 2014
Toyota Gosei Trefuerza 3-0 J-TEKT Stings (25-20, 25-14, 25-21), Takuya Takamatsu (Toyota) 15
FC Tokyo 0-3 Sakai Blazers (22-25, 20-25, 18-25), Shunsuke Chijiki (Sakai) 11 & Dai Tezuka (FC Tokyo) 11
Panasonic Panthers 3-2 Suntory Sunbirds (25-19, 25-22, 28-30, 21-25, 15-13), Tatsuya Fukuzawa (Panasonic) 31 & Ryohsuke Tsubakiyama (Suntory) 26
JT Thunders 2-3 Toray Arrows (25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 24-26, 11-15), Yuu Koshikawa (JT) 25, Igor Omcren (JT) 22 & Dejan Bojovic (Toray) 29

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 27, Wins, Sets Won-Lost
1. Panasonic Panthers, 20, 68-34 * clinched playoff spot and #1 seed
2. JT Thunders, 18, 62-46 * clinched playoff spot (sets ratio is better)
3. Sakai Blazers, 18, 62-48 * clinched playoff spot
4. Toyota Gosei Trefuerza, 14, 54-49 (sets ratio is better)
----- Top 4 Teams Make Playoffs -----
5. Toray Arrows, 14, 59-54
6. Suntory Sunbirds, 11, 50-62
----- Bottom 2 Teams Make Relegation Playoffs -----
7. FC Tokyo, 7, 39-67
8. J-TEKT Stings, 6, 35-69

Challenge League (2nd Division) Standings with 1 matchday left (20 matches total)

Team, Record, Sets Won-Lost
1. Tokyo Metropolitan Police Fighters, 17-2, 54-19
2. Tsukuba United SunGAIA, 17-2, 54-21
----- Top 2 Teams Make Promotion/Relegation Playoffs -----
3. Oita Mikoshi Weisse Adler, 16-3, 54-19
4. Fujitsu Kawasaki Red Spirits, 15-4, 48-18
5. Tokyo Verdy, 11-9, 42-36 *
6. Daido Steel Red Star, 9-11, 35-37 *
7. Kinden Trinity Blitz, 7-12, 34-40
8. Toyota Auto SunHawks, 6-13, 22-43
9. Kinki Cluba SFIDA, 4-15, 22-45
10. Hyogo Delfino, 4-16, 18-54 *
11. Tokyo Toyopet Green Sparkle, 0-19, 6-57
* Season complete

Could be a three way tie for first if Fujitsu beats Tokyo Metropolitan Police Fighters.
If that happens with a 3-0 win for Fujitsu, 3-0 win for Oita
Standings look like this
1. Oita 17-3, 57-19
2. Police 17-3, 54-22
3. Tsukuba 17-3, 54-24

Tsukuba even if they won 1 or 2 sets, the Police have a better sets ratio

Matchday 28, March 30, 2014
Toyota Gosei Trefuerza 3-2 FC Tokyo (19-25, 14-25, 29-27, 25-18, 15-10), Hirotaka Kon (Toyota) 18
Sakai Blazers 3-0 J-TEKT Stings (25-19, 29-27, 27-25), Shunsuke Chijiki (Sakai) 19
JT Thunders 1-3 Panasonic Panthers (25-22, 24-26, 17-25, 18-25), Tatsuya Fukuzawa (Panasonic) 20
Toray Arrows 3-0 Suntory Sunbirds (25-22, 25-20, 25-18), Dejan Bojovic (Toray) 14

STANDINGS AT THE END OF THE REGULAR SEASON
Team, Wins, Sets Won-Lost
1. Panasonic Panthers, 21, 71-35
2. Sakai Blazers, 19, 65-48
3. JT Thunders, 18, 63-49
4. Toray Arrows, 15, 62-54 (sets ratio is better)
----- Top 4 Teams Make Playoffs -----
5. Toyota Gosei Trefuerza, 15, 57-51
6. Suntory Sunbirds, 11, 50-65
----- Bottom 2 Teams Make Relegation Playoffs -----
7. FC Tokyo, 7, 41-70
8. J-TEKT Stings, 6, 35-72

SEMIFINAL ROUND
Held at the Fukuoka City Gymnasium, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
April 4 matches
Panasonic Panthers vs. Toray Arrows
Sakai Blazers vs. JT Thunders
April 5 matches
Panasonic Panthers vs. Sakai Blazers
JT Thunders vs. Toray Arrows
April 6 matches
Panasonic Panthers vs. JT Thunders
Sakai Blazers vs. Toray Arrows

Round Robin between the 4 teams
Ranking is based on wins, sets-ratio, points ratio

Challenge League (2nd Division) Standings
END OF REGULAR SEASON

Team, Record, Sets Won-Lost
1. Tokyo Metropolitan Police Fighters, 18-2, 57-20
2. Oita Mikoshi Weisse Adler, 17-3, 57-21
----- Top 2 Teams Make Promotion/Relegation Playoffs -----
3. Tsukuba United SunGAIA, 17-3, 56-24
4. Fujitsu Kawasaki Red Spirits, 15-5, 49-21
5. Tokyo Verdy, 11-9, 42-36
6. Daido Steel Red Star, 9-11, 35-37
7. Kinden Trinity Blitz, 8-12, 37-40
8. Toyota Auto SunHawks, 7-13, 25-45
9. Kinki Cluba SFIDA, 4-16, 24-48
10. Hyogo Delfino, 4-16, 18-54
11. Tokyo Toyopet Green Sparkle, 0-20, 6-60

V. Challenge Match (Promotion/Relegation Matches)
2 match series (wins, sets-ratio, points-ratio)
Held at the Saitama City Memorial Gymnasium, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture
April 5th matches
J-TEKT Stings vs. Tokyo Metropolitan Police Fighters
FC Tokyo vs. Oita Mikoshi Weisse Adler

April 6th matches
J-TEKT Stings vs. Tokyo Metropolitan Police Fighters
FC Tokyo vs. Oita Mikoshi Weisse Adler

Premier League Best Players at the end of the regular season

Kills Percentage (excluding errors, including back row attacks)
1. Kunihiro Shimizu (Panasonic) 50.8%
2. Tatsuya Fukuzawa (Panasonic) 50.4%
3. Milan Pepic (Sakai) 49.8%

Best Scorer (aces, blocks and kills)
1. Milan Pepic (Sakai) 687
2. Igor Omcren (JT) 652
3. Miroslav Gradinarov (FC Tokyo) 557

Kills per Set
1. Milan Pepic (Sakai) 5.35
2. Igor Omcren (JT) 5.19
3. Miroslav Gradinarov (FC Tokyo) 4.68

Best Blocker (blocks per set)
1. Takaaki Tomimatsu (Toray) 0.86
2. Kenji Shirwasawa (Panasonic) 0.74
3. Shogo Toimoto (JT) 0.70

Best Server (serve efficiency)
1. Yuu Koshikawa (JT) 21.1%
2. Milan Pepic (Sakai) 18.7%
3. Kazuto Takahashi (J-TEKT) 18.5%

Best Serve Receiver (Excellent %)
1. Koichiro Koga (Toyota) 74.1%
2. Daisuke Sakai (JT) 73.0%
3. Takeshi Nagano (Panasonic) 71.9%

SEMIFINAL ROUND
Held at the Fukuoka City Gymnasium, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
April 4 matches
Panasonic Panthers 3-2 Toray Arrows (20-25, 25-19, 25-15, 20-25, 15-9), Tatsuya Fukuzawa (Panasonic) 32 & Yuji Suzuki (Toray) 19
Sakai Blazers 2-3 JT Thunders (24-26, 25-16, 25-20, 23-25, 8-15), Yuu Koshikawa (JT) 25, Igor Omcren (JT) 23 & Milan Pepic (Sakai) 37

April 5 matches
Panasonic Panthers vs. Sakai Blazers
JT Thunders vs. Toray Arrows
April 6 matches
Panasonic Panthers vs. JT Thunders
Sakai Blazers vs. Toray Arrows

Standings after Matchday 1
Team, Wins, Sets Won-Lost, Points Won-Lost
1. Panasonic Panthers, 1, 3-2, 105-93
2. JT Thunders, 1, 3-2, 102-105
3. Sakai Blazers, 0, 2-3, 105-102
4. Toray Arrows, 0, 2-3, 93-105

SEMIFINAL ROUND
Held at the Fukuoka City Gymnasium, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture

April 5 matches
Panasonic Panthers 3-0 Sakai Blazers (25-22, 25-23, 25-20), Tatsuya Fukuzawa (Panasonic) 19 & Shunsuke Chijiki (Sakai) 11
JT Thunders 3-0 Toray Arrows (25-18, 25-18, 25-21), Igor Omcren (JT) 21 (7 aces) & Dejan Bojovic (Toray) 11

April 6 matches
Panasonic Panthers vs. JT Thunders
Sakai Blazers vs. Toray Arrows

Standings after Matchday 2
Team, Wins, Sets Won-Lost, Points Won-Lost
1. Panasonic Panthers, 2, 6-2, 180-158
2. JT Thunders, 2, 6-2, 177-162
3. Sakai Blazers, 0, 2-6, 170-177
4. Toray Arrows, 0, 2-6, 150-180

V. Challenge Match (Promotion/Relegation Matches)
2 match series (wins, sets-ratio, points-ratio)
Held at the Saitama City Memorial Gymnasium, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture

April 5th matches
J-TEKT Stings 3-0 Tokyo Metropolitan Police Foot Fighters (25-20, 25-18, 25-16), Yadier Sanchez (J-TEKT) 12 & Kohtaroh Nakamura (Police) 12
FC Tokyo 3-0 Oita Mikoshi Weisse Adler (25-19, 25-17, 25-20), Dai Tezuka (FC Tokyo) 15 points (6 blocks) & Yuuta Hosokawa (Oita) 10

April 6th matches
J-TEKT Stings vs. Tokyo Metropolitan Police Fighters
FC Tokyo vs. Oita Mikoshi Weisse Adler

If either J-TEKT or FC Tokyo win one set they will remain in the Premier League

V. Challenge Match (Promotion/Relegation Matches)
2 match series (wins, sets-ratio, points-ratio)
Held at the Saitama City Memorial Gymnasium, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture

April 5th matches
J-TEKT Stings 3-0 Tokyo Metropolitan Police Foot Fighters (25-20, 25-18, 25-16), Yadier Sanchez (J-TEKT) 12 & Kohtaroh Nakamura (Police) 12
FC Tokyo 3-0 Oita Mikoshi Weisse Adler (25-19, 25-17, 25-20), Dai Tezuka (FC Tokyo) 15 points (6 blocks) & Yuuta Hosokawa (Oita) 10

April 6th matches
J-TEKT Stings 3-0 Tokyo Metropolitan Police Foot Fighters (25-18, 25-17, 25-19), Shinichi Seino (J-TEKT) 11 & Yukihiro Matsomoto (Police) 13
FC Tokyo 3-0 Oita Mikoshi Weisse Adler (25-18, 25-23, 26-24), Dai Tezuka (FC Tokyo) 15 & Mohamed Khattab (Oita) 17

J-TEKT and FC Tokyo remain in the Premier League
Police and Oita remain in the Challenge League

SEMIFINAL ROUND
Held at the Fukuoka City Gymnasium, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture

April 6 matches
Panasonic Panthers 2-3 JT Thunders (25-17, 22-25, 21-25, 25-19, 11-15), Yuu Koshikawa (JT) 20 & Sougo Watanabe (Panasonic) 21
Sakai Blazers 3-1 Toray Arrows (25-21, 17-25, 27-25, 25-18), Yuuta Matsuoka (Sakai) 28 & Dejan Bojovic (Toray) 17

Both matches included backups because both matches will be played again next week in the final round.

Standings after Matchday 3
Team, Wins, Sets Won-Lost, Points Won-Lost
1. JT Thunders, 3, 6-4, 278-266
2. Panasonic Panthers, 2, 8-5, 284-259
3. Sakai Blazers, 1, 5-7, 264-266
4. Toray Arrows, 0, 3-9, 239-274

Final Round
Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, April 13th

3rd Place Match
Sakai Blazers vs. Toray Arrows

Championship Match
JT Thunders vs. Panasonic Blazers

3rd Place Match
Sakai Blazers 3-2 Toray Arrows (25-17, 25-20, 25-27, 17-25, 15-13)
Milan Pepic (Sakai) 25, Yoshihiko Matsuomoto (Sakai) 17, Yusuke Ishijima (Sakai) 16, Shunsuke Chijiki (Sakai) 15
Dejan Bojovic (Toray) 24, Yuta Yoneyama (Toray) 17

Championship Match
JT Thunders 2-3 Panasonic Panthers (21-25, 25-13, 16-25, 25-19, 10-15)
Tatsuya Fukuzawa (Panasonic) 21, Kunihiro Shimizu (Panasonic) 19, Dante Guimaraes Santos do Amaral (Panasonic) 16
Igor Omcren (JT) 32 (6 aces), Yuu Koshikawa (JT) 17

Big swings in the set scores, but both teams finished with 97 points
JT with 16 errors (5 for Panasonic) from the service line, but 7 aces to 1 for Panasonic
Panasonic's 5th championship