Japan - V.Premier League 2016-2017

  • This year will be the 50th anniversary season for the top league in Japan in its varying forms.


    The 8 teams participating are:
    Hisamitsu Springs (Defending champion)
    Hitachi Rivale
    Toray Arrows
    NEC Red Rockets
    Toyota Auto Body Queenseis
    Okayama Seagulls
    JT Marvelous (promoted from Challenge League 1 after beating Ageo Medics)
    PFU Blue Cats (promoted from Challenge League 1 after beating Denso Airybees)


    The regular season will be 21 games (playing each team 3 times) beginning on October 29th, ending January 29th
    The top 6 teams will make the Final 6 playoff stage, a single round robin will be played to determine the top 3 teams for the Final 3. The best team win advance to the Final.
    The 2nd and 3rd placed teams will play in the Final 3 matches. Last year it was a single match, but this year it will be 2 matches with a Golden Set if the matches are split. The difference in the Golden Set compared to CEV tournaments is that the set will go to 25 points instead of 15.
    The Final will also be over 2 matches instead of a single match, and also using the Golden Set system if needed.

  • Today, there was a massive announcement for the future of the V-League and I think that it is a move in the right direction.


    For the 2018-2019 season, the V-League will try to become one of the top leagues in the world by creating a Superleague.


    Some of the reasoning for the change is as follows:
    1. Make the league in which it carves out a future for volleyball
    2. Show that Japan is the country that loves volleyball most in the world
    3. Have the league be based as a volleyball business
    4. Have the clubs look to be the best in the world


    How will the league do this?


    1. Teams will be independent from the companies
    At present teams are sponsored by companies without affiliation to locations (excluding a few like Okayama and Sakai)
    Team names and logos will not have sponsors in them


    2. More home games (actually at home)
    Teams at present play some home games, but also play at neutral sites to encourage play across Japan (done in all sports)
    The change means that each team will create their own home game feel, similar to that of Europe.
    Also teams will have mascots


    3. Limiting roster size and number of foreigners
    18 players limit (excluding foreigners), 1 foreigner and 1 AVC player for a total of 20 players
    Foreign players could join until the midway point in the regular season. Currently they must start with the team before the season starts.


    4. Coaches will become more professional
    Due to separation from sponsors this should allow coaches to be more professional


    5. Having individual staff for certain positions
    Listed in the presentation finance, business development, security, advertising, marketing, medical doctor, medical staff and training


    6. Umpires must also have high level certifications


    7. Teams will develop their own youth teams
    Right now they are very dependent on the middle schools, high schools and colleges to develop players for them.


    What will the structure be?


    1. Maximum of 12 teams, split into two conferences of 6 (East and West)


    2. 32-40 games played per year (4 times against teams in your conference and 2 times against the other conference)
    14 home games guaranteed and 2 home games at a neutral site.


    3. 80% Home games must be played in a venue with 3,500 capacity minimum


    4. Top 4 teams from each conference make the playoffs
    Single match in first round within conference, second round home and home plus Golden Set, third round also home and home plus Golden Set


    5. Using match points as first tiebreaker, then wins, sets ratio and finally points ratio for standings

  • Tell me if I got it: Toray Arrows which are from Ōtsu, have to change their name into something like Ōtsu Arrows? ?(


    I'm not sure this will help Japan in the future. Let's be honest: eight is the real problem for their players. They used to be competitive with a taller (than their standards) player like Otomo and a physically dominant spiker like Ebata. And Manabe didn't help a lot leaving the only strong blocker of the league (Iwasaka) at home because of their so so relationship; and Araki's level dropped a lot the last season. This big revolution may be good for the league, but I'm not so sure it may help Japan NT. It's not a casuality teams lately realized they don't need powerful opposites as long as their game style is focused on speed, but they really need dominant middles: there aren't physically dominant middles, they have few short but good ones.

  • I assume having more than 8 teams already makes the league a whole lot more appealing to watch, aside from giving more opportunities for players to adapt to a higher level and getting more spots for potential foreigners to play in the league. I know the changes are still two years away, but my question is: how is the league gonna handle this new sponsorship rule? Will companies be able to continue investing in teams or all the money will come from governmental institutions?

  • I was wondering the same thing, once the teams wont be named with their main sponsor, won`t this make them less likely to continue with the team or want to invest less once their name is not there?
    ANd I dont think that is something necessary, a lot of teams has the sponsors as teams`s name , examples in Turkey and Brazil for example, and it doesnt really matter.


    Yeah, but the most important thing is..HEIGHT....especially now if clubs will invest more in developing players, they need to work in finding taller girls.

  • Tell me if I got it: Toray Arrows which are from Ōtsu, have to change their name into something like Ōtsu Arrows? ?(


    I'm not sure this will help Japan in the future. Let's be honest: eight is the real problem for their players. They used to be competitive with a taller (than their standards) player like Otomo and a physically dominant spiker like Ebata. And Manabe didn't help a lot leaving the only strong blocker of the league (Iwasaka) at home because of their so so relationship; and Araki's level dropped a lot the last season. This big revolution may be good for the league, but I'm not so sure it may help Japan NT. It's not a casuality teams lately realized they don't need powerful opposites as long as their game style is focused on speed, but they really need dominant middles: there aren't physically dominant middles, they have few short but good ones.


    Yes that would be correct. Toray could still sponsor the team, but the name would change to the location. Japanese soccer and basketball leagues have shifted to this model and volleyball is now following.


    Part of the problems with players are cultural. Due to the Japanese system, players only travel internationally to play with the national team. Very few go outside of Japan to play overseas and play for long periods of time. Ebata only made it one year (an injury didn't help her either). Saori did go for two years which in my mind is really long for a Japanese player. If more players went overseas, they would get different training than what they are accustomed to at home.


    I give Manabe credit for completely changing the mentality of the national team. But by the Rio games, he had run his course (at 8 years), but if you look at the league, teams are using internal statisticians more and this was due to his implementation of data analysis with the national team. I don't think that teams are going backwards on that.


    As for the league, it has always been treated as an advertising expense by companies and not run like an individual business as senior management is constantly turned over. Due to this, there is no continuity and therefore no common standards for management of the team (let alone any team). And therefore when working with agents in transfers with foreign players or teams, they just look weak. Also, because the team's players are also considered employees, they work as part-time with the company and then practice. The foreign players get more freedom due to the language barrier. I watched a video of Ebata after playing with the national team in 2010 and she was in the 2nd division in Japan. She would play matches on the weekend and then have to work on Monday. It makes no damn sense, if players want to devote their lives to playing, they should be able to practice and develop their skills further instead of working.


    Link for Ebata video go about 5 min in


    As for the height issue, the Japanese census has statistics on the average height of girls on an annual basis from elementary school through 20 years old. Chapter 24
    In 2000, the average girl's height at 18 was 158.6 cm, by 2013 it was 157.4 cm. For the men is was 171.7 in 2000 and 170.9 in 2013. People are not growing in average height. The girls that standout are probably already in volleyball or basketball.

  • Also, because the team's players are also considered employees, they work as part-time with the company and then practice.


    That is really unfair :( :( I had no clue things were like this over there.


    Interesting video with Ebata..

  • I remember one of the former foreign players in Japan (Godina or Artamonova, I think) talking about what it's like to play there. Basically, volleyball is treated like any other profession, you have an 8-hour workday and you have to spend it at your workplace, ie. the gym. They would train twice a day, but in between trainings she'd have to find a way to make herself occupied with something. I guess that's when domestic players would perform their other work duties.
    I thought it was really interesting, but I guess maybe things have changed somewhat since then.

  • Hisamitsu Springs Roster


    OS: 1 Miyu Nagaoka, 3 Risa Shinnabe, 6 Yuki Ishii, 8 Rika Nomoto, 12 Yuka Imamura, 19 Akane Ukishima, 25 Hikaru Katoh
    S: 2 Chizuru Kotoh, 11 Erika Sakae, 24 Ayano Nakaoji
    MB: 4 Nana Iwasaka, 5 Yumi Mizuta, 9 Maja Tokarska, 13 Kiyora Obikawa, 14 Fumika Moriya, 21 Haruka Kanamori, 22 Hitomi Kodama, 23 Risa Ishibashi
    L: 10 Kotoki Zayasu L, 18 Mana Toe, 20 Sayaka Tsutsui

  • Hitachi Rivale roster


    OS: 1 Kaori Mabashi, 9 Hisae Watanabe, 10 Mami Uchiseto, 11 Megumi Kurihara, 12 Moemi Tohi, 20 Ryoko Atago, 21 Miwako Osanai
    S: 2 Yuka Onodera, 4 Kana Shimohira, 8 Miya Satoh
    MB: 3 Nanami Inoue, 6 Mai Hikichi, 13 Miyuki Sutoh, 14 Cursty Jackson, 16 Eri Higashihara, 19 Maiha Haga
    L: 5 Arisa Satoh, 17 An Saita, 18 Anna Koike

  • JT Marvelous roster


    OS: 2 Masami Takahashi, 4 Ayumi Nakamura, 5 Ai Inden, 6 Onuma Sittirak, 9 Yuka Kanasugi, 11 Mizuki Tanaka, 12 Noriko Andoh,14 Yuka Kitsui
    S: 7 Misaki Tanaka, 16 Misa Yamamoto
    MB: 1 Aika Akutagawa, 3 Mai Okumura, 8 Yumi Terai, 13 Anna Ogawa, 17 Chiharu Kimura, 18 Risa Hashimoto
    L: 10 Kotoe Inoue, 15 Mako Kobata

  • NEC Red Rockets roster


    OS: 2 Sarina Koga, 3 Emiliya Nikolova, 6 Akari Oumi, 12 Ayana Oyama, 15 Mizuki Yanagita, 18 Nanami Hirose
    S: 4 Kaname Yamaguchi, 9 Rina Sho, 16 Yuna Okuyama, 17 Sayaka Shinohara
    MB: 5 Kana Ohno, 7 Haruyo Shimamura, 13 Naoko Yataka
    L: 8 Miku Torigoe, 10 Sayaka Iwasaki
    OS and MB: 11 Kaori Ueno, 14 Nami Sagawa

  • Okayama Seagulls roster


    OS: 7 Moe Sasaki, 8 Aki Kawabata, 18 Shuka Kaneda, 25 Chiharu Omasu, 26 Risa Yoshikata, 33 Ayaka Hishikawa
    S: 5 Mizuki Ugajin, 14 Haruka Miyashita, 24 Natsuki Kawabata, 29 Mio Maruyama
    MB: 12 Anna Imura, 13 Hikari Isobe, 17 Hinako Hayashi, 21 Yurika Kohno, 22 Koyuki Okusu, 28 Aimi Kawashima, 55 Natsuko Izumi
    L: 16 Kanae Yamakawa, 19 Yuki Morita, 20 Aki Maruyama, 23 Masumi Higashi, 27 Yoshie Narasaki
    OS and MB: 2 Mai Yamaguchi, 9 Mai Takeda
    L and OS: 1 Minami Yoshida

  • PFU Blue Cats roster


    OS: 3 Haruka Yoshiyasu, 5 Yukiko Ebata, 7 Maiko Kanoh, 8 Satoe Mitsuhashi, 14 Madoka Shimizu, 15 Sayaka Ohbo, 16 Saori Uda, 17 Chiaki Takahashi, 20 Rino Makita
    S: 4 Tomomi Ishibashi, 9 Hiroko Matsuura, 19 Naoko Shimahata
    MB: 2 Jennifer Doris, 6 Kasumi Murakami, 12 Mai Shimizu, 13 Sakura Kanda, 21 Saya Matsushita
    L: 18 Yukiko Arai, 22 Nanami Tani

  • Toray Arrows roster


    OS: 2 Saori Kimura, 3 Saori Sakoda, 4 Saki Minemura, 7 Mari Horikawa, 11 Wakaba Sugihara, 16 Shino Nakata, 17 Mana Ishikawa
    S: 5 Kanami Tashiro
    MB: 1 Carly Wopat, 9 Asuka Nomura, 10 Nozomi Itoh, 13 Yukina Hayashi
    L: 6 Misato Kimura, 12 Kaho Fujimoto, 15 Yumi Nakagawa, 18 Miku Nakashima
    OS and MB: 8 Kaho Ohno
    S and OS: 14 Misaki Shirai

  • Toyota Auto Body Queenseis roster


    OS: 1 Saki Takeda, 3 Saori Takahashi, 7 Marina Shichi, 10 Momoka Oda, 12 Mari Yamada, 13 Nao Muranaga, 17 Polina Rahimova
    S: 4 Momoko Higane, 15 Ayaka Hosokawa
    MB: 5 Miyuki Hiramatsu, 6 Erika Araki, 9 Ayano Tsuji, 11 Akari Takeuchi
    L: 2 Mio Satoh, 8 Misato Sakakibara

  • Matchday 1, October 29, 2016


    Hisamitsu Springs 3-0 Hitachi Rivale (25-17, 26-24, 25-17)
    Miyu Nagaoka (Hisamitsu) 20 (1b), Risa Shinnabe (Hisamitsu) 15 (3a), Yuki Ishii (Hisamitsu) 12, Nana Iwasaka (Hisamitsu) 7 (4b), Maja Tokarska (Hisamitsu) 6, Ayano Nakaoji (Hisamitsu) 3 (1a, 1b), Sayaka Tsutsui (Hisamitsu) L, Rika Nomoto (Hisamitsu) sub 1 (1b), Fumika Moriya (Hisamitsu) sub, Risa Ishibashi (Hisamitsu) sub
    Cursty Jackson (Hitachi) 12 (2b, 1a), Mami Uchiseto (Hitachi) 8, Moemi Tohi (Hitachi) 8, Hisae Watanabe (Hitachi) 6, Nanami Inoue (Hitachi) 4, Miya Satoh (Hitachi) 2, Arisa Satoh (Hitachi) L, Kaori Mabashi (Hitachi) sub, Kana Shimohira (Hitachi) sub, Anna Koike (Hitachi) sub

  • Matchday 1, October 30, 2016


    Toray Arrows 1-3 PFU Blue Cats (21-25, 20-25, 27-25, 23-25)
    Saori Sakoda (Toray) 17, Carly Wopat (Toray) 16 (6b), Saori Kimura (Toray) 13 (1b, 1a), Saki Minemura (Toray) 11 (1b), Kanami Tashiro (Toray) 1 (1b), Kaho Ohno (Toray) 0, Misato Kimura (Toray) L, Mari Horikawa (Toray) sub 6 (1b), Nozomi Itoh (Toray) sub 4 (1b), Asuka Nomura (Toray) sub, Misaki Shirai (Toray) sub, Yumi Nakagawa (Toray) sub L, Miku Nakashima (Toray) sub
    Yukiko Ebata (PFU) 22 (1a), Haruka Yoshiyasu (PFU) 16, Satoe Mitsuhashi (PFU) 14 (1a), Jennifer Doris (PFU) 12 (4b), Mai Shimizu (PFU) 4, Hiroko Matsuura (PFU) 3 (3b), Nanami Tani (PFU) L, Maiko Kanoh (PFU) sub, Sayaka Ohbo (PFU) sub, Saori Uda (PFU) sub, Chiaki Takahashi (PFU) sub


    Toyota Auto Body Queenseis 0-3 JT Marvelous (21-25, 17-25, 18-25)
    Polina Rahimova (Toyota) 15 (3b, 1a), Erika Araki (Toyota) 10 (1b), Saki Takeda (Toyota) 4 (1a), Saori Takahashi (Toyota) 4, Akari Takeuchi (Toyota) 4 (1b), Nao Muranaga (Toyota) 3, Ayaka Hosokawa (Toyota) 1 (1b), Misato Sakakibara (Toyota) L, Momoko Higane (Toyota) sub, Momoka Oda (Toyota) sub
    Onuma Sittirak (JT) 15 (1a), Mai Okumura (JT) 12 (1b), Mizuki Tanaka (JT) 10 (1a), Ayumi Nakamura (JT) 9 (1b), Yumi Terai (JT) 9 (2b), Misaki Tanaka (JT) 1, Kotoe Inoue (JT) L, Ai Inden (JT) sub


    NEC Red Rockets 0-3 Okayama Seagulls (20-25, 19-25, 24-26)
    Akari Oumi (NEC) 12 (1b), Mizuki Yanagita (NEC) 11 (2b, 1a), Sarina Koga (NEC) 11 (3b), Haruyo Shimamura (NEC) 5, Kana Ohno (NEC) 5 (1a), Kaname Yamaguchi (NEC) 1, Miku Torigoe (NEC) L, Naoko Yataka (NEC) sub 2, Kaori Ueno (NEC) sub 1, Rina Sho (NEC) sub, Ayana Oyama (NEC) sub, Nanami Hirose (NEC) sub
    Natsuko Izumi (Okayama) 14 (1a), Moe Sasaki (Okayama) 13, Shuka Kaneda (Okayama) 7 (1b), Aimi Kawashima (Okayama) 6, Chiharu Omasu (Okayama) 4, Haruka Miyashita (Okayama) 2 (1b), Mai Yamaguchi (Okayama) 1, Aki Maruyama (Okayama) L, Koyuki Okusu (Okayama) sub 4 (2b), Aki Kawabata (Okayama) sub 2 (1b), Yuki Morita (Okayama) sub L, Yurika Kohno (Okayama) sub


    Standings
    Rank, Team, Match Points, Match Wins, Sets Won-Sets Lost
    1. JT Marvelous 3, 1, 3-0 * JT has the best points ratio
    2. Hisamitsu Springs 3, 1, 3-0 ** Hisamitsu has better points ratio
    3. Okayama Seagulls 3, 1, 3-0
    4. PFU Blue Cats 3, 1, 3-1
    5. Toray Arrows 0, 0, 1-3
    6. NEC Red Rockets 0, 0, 0-3 * NEC has the best points ratio
    ----- Advance to Final 6 -----
    7. Hitachi Rivale 0, 0, 0-3 ** Hitachi has better points ratio
    8. Toyota Auto Body Queenseis 0, 0, 0-3

  • Matchday 2, November 5, 2016


    Hisamitsu Springs 3-2 JT Marvelous (25-15, 25-17, 22-25, 22-25, 15-10)
    Miyu Nagaoka (Hisamitsu) 28 (1b, 1a), Yuki Ishii (Hisamitsu) 18 (1b, 2a), Nana Iwasaka (Hisamitsu) 15 (5b), Risa Shinnabe (Hisamitsu) 13 (1b), Maja Tokarska (Hisamitsu) 13 (6b), Rika Nomoto (Hisamitsu) 4 (1b), Ayano Nakaoji (Hisamitsu) 1 (1a), Sayaka Tsutsui (Hisamitsu) L, Risa Ishibashi (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Yumi Mizuta (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Chizuru Kotoh (Hisamitsu) sub 0, Mana Toe (Hisamitsu) sub L
    Onuma Sittirak (JT) 19 (1b, 1a), Mizuki Tanaka (JT) 19, Mai Okumura (JT) 17 (2b), Yumi Terai (JT) 8 (1b), Misaki Tanaka (JT) 2 (2b), Ayumi Nakamura (JT) 1, Kotoe Inoue (JT) L, Yuka Kitsui (JT) sub 5, Yuka Kanasugi (JT) sub 0


    Hitachi Rivale 3-0 Toyota Auto Body Queenseis (25-21, 25-21, 26-24)
    Hisae Watanabe (Hitachi) 21 (1b, 5a), Mami Uchiseto (Hitachi) 13, Cursty Jackson (Hitachi) 10, Nanami Inoue (Hitachi) 8 (2b, 2a), Miya Satoh (Hitachi) 2, Moemi Tohi (Hitachi) 2, Arisa Satoh (Hitachi) L, Anna Koike (Hitachi) sub 0, Maiha Haga (Hitachi) sub 0, Kana Shimohira (Hitachi) sub 0, Yuka Onodera (Hitachi) sub 0
    Polina Rahimova (Toyota) 22 (2b), Momoka Oda (Toyota) 11 (1b), Erika Araki (Toyota) 8 (1b), Saki Takeda (Toyota) 5 (1b), Akari Takeuchi (Toyota) 5 (1b, 1a), Momoko Higane (Toyota) 0, Misato Sakakibara (Toyota) L, Mari Yamada (Toyota) sub L


    Okayama Seagulls 0-3 Toray Arrows (18-25, 22-25, 18-25)
    Moe Sasaki (Okayama) 10 (1b), Aimi Kawashima (Okayama) 10 (2b), Chiharu Omasu (Okayama) 3, Mai Yamaguchi (Okayama) 2 (1b), Natsuko Izumi (Okayama) 2 (1a), Haruka Miyashita (Okayama) 1 (1a), Aki Maruyama (Okayama) L , Hinako Hayashi (Okayama) sub 6 (1b), Shuka Kaneda (Okayama) sub 3, Koyuki Okusu (Okayama) sub 3, Yurika Kohno (Okayama) sub 1, Aki Kawabata (Okayama) sub 1, Mizuki Ugajin (Okayama) sub 0, Yuki Morita (Okayama) sub L
    Carly Wopat (Toray) 19 (4b), Saori Sakoda (Toray) 12 (1b), Saori Kimura (Toray) 9, Nozomi Itoh (Toray) 7 (1b), Saki Minemura (Toray) 6 (2b), Kanami Tashiro (Toray) 2 (1b, 1a), Misato Kimura (Toray) L, Mari Horikawa (Toray) sub 3, Asuka Nomura (Toray) sub 0, Misaki Shirai (Toray) sub 0, Yumi Nakagawa (Toray) sub L


    NEC Red Rockets 3-0 PFU Blue Cats (25-22, 25-16, 25-21)
    Emiliya Nikolova (NEC) 20 (1b, 1a), Sarina Koga (NEC) 15 (4b, 1a), Akari Oumi (NEC) 10 (1b), Haruyo Shimamura (NEC) 8, Kana Ohno (NEC) 6 (1b, 1a), Kaname Yamaguchi (NEC) 2, Miku Torigoe (NEC) L, Mizuki Yanagita (NEC) sub 1, Rina Sho (NEC) sub 0, Sayaka Iwasaki (NEC) sub 0
    Satoe Mitsuhashi (PFU) 12 (3b), Yukiko Ebata (PFU) 11 (1b), Jennifer Doris (PFU) 8, Haruka Yoshiyasu (PFU) 5, Mai Shimizu (PFU) 2, Hiroko Matsuura (PFU) 0, Nanami Tani (PFU) L, Saori Uda (PFU) sub 0, Tomomi Ishibashi (PFU) sub 0, Kasumi Murakami (PFU) sub 0, Sayaka Ohbo (PFU) sub 0, Maiko Kanoh (PFU) sub 0


    Standings
    Rank, Team, Match Points, Match Wins, Sets Won-Sets Lost
    1. Hisamitsu Springs 5, 2, 6-2
    2. JT Marvelous 4, 1, 5-3
    3. Toray Arrows 3, 1, 4-3
    4. NEC Red Rockets 3, 1, 3-3 * NEC has the best points ratio
    5. Okayama Seagulls 3, 1, 3-3 ** Okayama has better points ratio
    6. Hitachi Rivale 3, 1, 3-3
    ----- Advance to Final 6 -----
    7. PFU Blue Cats 3, 1, 3-4
    8. Toyota Auto Body Queenseis 0, 0, 0-6