Japan - V.Premier League 2017-2018

  • I hope everyone who wanted to got a chance to see it


  • I've been following this post since the league started, but seems like this is the time for me to give props to my team - DENSO.



    Since the moment they ended the amazing winning streak of Hisamitsu, got pass Toray in style, I believed that they would eventually bring home this title. Then Toyota won. Seeing how disappointed they were just really broke my heart. It made me once again realise that, the winner is not always the favourable one. They did a good job, but just not enough. They could have ended the 2nd set on their side and had great advantage mentally, but couldn't.
    Kudo has proven her worth here, she is growing to be Denso's core in the future.
    Anyway, what a final! Araki still got it, Neriman was really on fire the whole match. I guessed the decision to replace Watanabe (12) with Hiramatsu (5) was a game-changing point for Toyota? They played better since then. Both team really deserves to win, it only comes down to who will get the Christmas miracle finally.


    Really looking forward to when V-league resumes on the 6th of January. Hisamitsu has finally got beaten, Toyota has got a great confidence boost, Denso develops variation in their games, not to mention JT, Toray, NEC (though they are quite on and off).

  • Here a quick 5mins highlight video post by JVA on youtube.


    www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UfZYTjp3SE


    Congratulations to both Toyota AB and Denso for a hard-fought final match. :thumbsup:
    Who would have expected a Toyota vs Denso final at the start of the tournament?


    I love numbers. Kudos to Rei Kudo. She didn't start the game. 46 swings, 46 receptions. 20 points, 76% 'to the good rate' in serve reception.

    Btw according to the stats sheet, Rei Kudo got 19 points, not 20 points and the 76% is the overall reception success rate (= (( 100 x 28 ) + ( 50 x 14 )) / 46) where 28 is excellent receptions and 14 is good receptions.

  • Look at this ... My Little Sweet Pea would have had THREE Kill Blocks but Chris Furst stole one from her :D



    And what's up with Rei Kudo. Is she a secret weapon or what? I only remember seeing her get extended minutes in ONE game during the first half of the season, and she didn't do that well. So Coach brings her in to fight back against Hisamitsu in Set2 of the Quarterfinals. She was at the service line down 19-24 and delivered. She delivered in the Tie-break for the win. She didn't play in the Semis against Toray, but comes off the bench in the Gold Medal Match and kicks ass. I love it when young players rise to the occasion under pressure. It's very special.

  • I forgot japanese cup final due to turkish cup final
    Who won it ?
    any link to replay?


    Good news and Bad news for you ...


    Good news: Toyota won the Gold, and it was an outstanding 5set game.
    Bad News: The stream just got taken down. No other replays I can find.

  • Who had won it last year ?


    It was before my time but I think Hisamitsu defeated Hitachi. There's no web site for it, Wikipedia stopped keeping track in 2013.

  • I googled and I found on FIVB website.....Hisamitsu won last 5 editions.


    would you share that search result with me? I can't even figure out how to search the stupid FIVB web site. And never found anything with google.


    <rant>Why does volleyball as a sport suck so bad in the internet department?</rant>


  • would you share that search result with me? I can't even figure out how to search the stupid FIVB web site. And never found anything with google.


    <rant>Why does volleyball as a sport suck so bad in the internet department?</rant>


    This is what I found...it was a post from last year ...it does not say much.
    http://www.fivb.com/en/about/n…ts-end-year-with?id=65835


    and these are on wiki...but they are not updated
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…n_Volleyball_Championship

  • props to my team - DENSO


    Major props to your team! This Empress Cup Final was hands down the most emotionally invested I've been in a volleyball game this season. I really like the Body Queens, but there's something special about goofy underdogs rising to the top. And frankly, Airi Tahara has stolen my heart :rose:


    What a story it would have been for Denso to beat Hisamitsu and then take the gold. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of boost Denso gets from this going into the rest of the season.

  • Volleyball TV HD appears to be uploading some streams we missed.


    2017.12.23 Empress Cup Semi NEC v Toyota
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GvZPNeLNrw Set 1
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j47b9keRU8w Set 2
    https://youtu.be/DLDsoPrjP-g Set 3
    https://youtu.be/ecxUt7XZJj0 Set 4



    2017.12.23 Empress Cup Semi Toray v Denso
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlBpICHHnqw set 1
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJKn6LKPlt8 set 2p1
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju_PLjULFmg set 2p2
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZuOyvPF4d4 set 3


    Looks like they are reposting the Finals too, if you missed it. Start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0r-dQNd8Fw


    Youtube links are a little funky now that Youtube is a full on Commercial TV enterprise. Links might go to ads. This just started in the past week or so. Gross. But you can get where you want once you get close.

  • Watched the Denso v Toray match. Pretty solid Denso win, but Toray played without Mari Horikawa. The crowd sang Happy Birthday to still-on-the-injured-list Riho Ōtake. Still very much enjoying Denso.


    Some of the things I'm liking:

    • They are sticking with a tighter lineup than earlier in the season, keeping Captain Mizuho Ishida on the floor more minutes. She plays OP when rotation calls for it. This means fewer minutes for southpaw Aya Horie. I'm cool with that. Horie's been okay but I think it's more important having Ishida on the floor.
    • Risa Ishii playing a lot of Middle Blocker. She's fit and quick, and she and #17 My Little Sweet Pea are working on an increasingly effective Nootsara/Pleumjit style one-two punch. She rotates in and out with Chris Furst so one or the other of them is always in the front row--a pretty common thing I assume, but rotations are a new field of learning for me. Furst is better at the slide attack.
    • Yurie Nabeya keeps getting better, getting smarter.
    • My new GF, setter #17 Airi Tahara, continues to impress. I've watched a couple Denso Fan View/Edits in HD from end of court, and with that view you get a much better sense of court movement, and My Little Sweet Pea looks pretty deceptive in who she's going to set the ball to. I'm still not a good judge of a setter's ability, but I don't see a lot of attackers reduced to saving the ball over the net because the set wasn't good. It's chemistry, experience, and skill. I'm liking what I see from the diminutive twenty-one year old Tahara. Glad she's playing more full games lately. She's a blocking Machine! :lol:
    • Chris Furst coming down from a Kill Block flat-footed, walking back to the huddle flat-footed, her arm in the shape of a Big Hammer. She's THOR.
    • #4 Rei Kudo, Marvel Comics Superhero. I forget when this happened in the Empress Cup games, but Kudo comes off the bench, immediately gets the first set, gets dug, gets the next set, gets blocked (but Denso's monster Block Coverage keeps it alive), gets the next set, off the block, gets the next set ... HULK SMASH. The beauty of it for me was that she swung (swang?) increasingly harder each time, not losing a drip of confidence. I love that in a youngster. :heart:
  • 13:00 JT Marvelous v Toyota Body Queens ... 3–1
    13:00 NEC Red Rockets v Denso Airybees ... 2–3
    15:00 Ageo Medics v Toray Arrows ... 1–3
    15:00 Hisamitsu Springs v Hitachi Rivale ... 3–0


    JT had a little payback for the Body Queens. Kitsui is back in uniform for JT, subbed in a few sets. Neriman has added blond highlights to her ponytail. Toyota has added 3 or 4 new Body Queens to their roster. Only one I recognized is Ayaka Sugi from the U23 team. It was an entertaining, hard fought match with no individual standouts. Toyota drops to 6th place in the standings behind NEC--wtf?


    NEC and Denso went down to the wire in a 5 sets, but it wasn't an entertaining match. Sloppy play all around and it doesn't bode well for Denso that it took them 5 sets to beat NEC. Denso played a looser lineup, maybe that's why, and offered up their first great Densoid* of the year (look at Sakamoto's body stance. She thinks she's on a coffee break):


    Hisamitsu remains undefeated. Hitachi signed a new player.


    I can't bring myself to watch an Ageo game.


    Seems like there are a number of new players in the league. I'll sort it out later.


    * A Densoid is when the team stands around and group watches the ball hit the floor.

  • Hitachi is playing one of their new acquisitions: #19 Miyu Kubota. Denso is serving every ball to her :lol: