Japan - V.Premier League 2017-2018

  • I really enjoyed that game. JT is fun. More fun when they are winning, and more fun when Kanasugi is out there. She's a blast. Not so good as an OP, but who's counting. Great to see her bonding with Brankica.


    And I'm liking #1, Akutagawa the 98 pound MB. Takes balls. She's cute, too.


    Kurogo is slumping bad. If she would of had even a decent game, Toray coulda won. Whatever Horikawa is smoking she should keep smoking it. She's on fire.

  • NEC could win this game against Hisamitsu if they keep Shimamura in at MB and Yamaguchi at setter.


  • Yeah, and I think "balance" is the key word there. Takahashi wasn't a big big scorer but she's good enough to keep opponents honest. And she handled a good chunk of reception.


    Neriman appears to be healthy and in good shape but it's too much to ask her to swing as much as she did last night in every game. I just looked-- 79 swings! 46.8 % success. She had no reception.


    thx.so we can say that the reception was affected most due to this absence

  • 13:00 Denso Airybees v Ageo Medics ... 3–1
    13:00 Toray Arrows v JT Marvelous ... 1–3
    15:00 NEC Red Rockets v Hisamitsu Springs ... 0–3
    15:00 Toyota Body Queens v Hitachi Rivale ... 2–3


    Densio is slowly but surely inching their way up in the standings behind solid play from Nabeya and the Caucasian. Nothing spectacular but reliable enough to keep them competitive. Ageo, dunno what's ailing them, although Kondo is looking a little sleepy and Carcases just stands around when she's not killing it.


    Toray couldn't make it to their fifth win in a row. JT spread the love with good performances across the board. MBs Akutagawa and Okumura(C) had solid scoring and blocking games; Kanasugi filled in with goofball efficiency for the injured Kitsui; Brankica Brankica'd, there's no stopping her. For Toray, Horikawa is still on fire but she needs more help than she's getting. Kurogo had an off night or Toray could have had a chance to win after JT took a little nap halfway through.


    Poor Toyota. Losing to Hitachi ;( Depth matters. JT's got it but Toyota doesn't. Takahashi's injury may send them to the Challenge League if they don't figure something out. They're looking to MBs (like JT) to pick up a little scoring deficiency due to loss of a scoring OH. Araki and Watanabe stepped up but it wasn't enough. I tease Hitachi, but they really aren't that bad. Osanai continues to perform well.


    Hisamitsu remains undefeated. They trotted out MB #14 Fumika Moriya who I've not seen before and she played great. The first two sets were close, both 26-24, but it felt like Hisamitsu scored about a hundred points. NEC has no answer for Akinradewo. They were looking okay until midway through the third set when they put MB Ueno and setter Tsukada back in for some inexplicable reason. It was like game over, go home, we quit. Oh well. Yamauchi had a bit of an off night, too.


    1 Hisamitsu Springs - 26pts ... 9-0 -- (27,5)
    2 JT Marvelous - 18pts ... 6-3 -- (23,15)
    3 Toyota Body Queens - 14pts ... 4-5 -- (17,16)
    4 Denso Airybees - 12pts ... 4-5 -- (18,20)
    5 Ageo Medics - 11pts ... 4-5 -- (15,19)
    6 Toray Arrows- 10pts ... 4-5 -- (15,20)
    7 NEC Red Rockets - 10pts ... 3-6 -- (12,19)
    8 Hitachi Rivale - 7pts ... 2-7 -- (11,24)


    Ongoing season results, highlights, and schedule in ->this post

  • Brankica talked a bit about her life in Japan. She admitted she wasn't sure she was going to get her passion and motivation back so quickly after winning the ECh gold so recently, but when she got to Japan, she had such a warm welcome and everyone was so nice to her that she immediately found her groove again. The difference compared to the last time she played in Japan is that she's now more mature and knows what she can do and what's expected of her. There are a lot of young players on the team and she wants to help them out, be a role model and help them grow. The attitude is very professional and everyone takes their job very seriously, but still the atmosphere on the team is excellent and they have very good chemistry.
    She much prefers it to living in China.

  • Brankica talked a bit about her life in Japan. She admitted she wasn't sure she was going to get her passion and motivation back so quickly after winning the ECh gold so recently, but when she got to Japan, she had such a warm welcome and everyone was so nice to her that she immediately found her groove again. The difference compared to the last time she played in Japan is that she's now more mature and knows what she can do and what's expected of her. There are a lot of young players on the team and she wants to help them out, be a role model and help them grow. The attitude is very professional and everyone takes their job very seriously, but still the atmosphere on the team is excellent and they have very good chemistry.
    She much prefers it to living in China.


    I love seeing the way Brankica gets along with her Marvelous team mates. Some of them aren't that much younger than her, but she's a legend and they're not. Some of them, Kanasugi in particular, seem like they're blown away that they are playing WITH Brankica, on the same team. It must be quite the experience. Thanks for sharing the insight.

  • I follow Mihajlovic on instagram and sometimes she post photos with her teammates, I think she might be such a fun person to be around with. I think she`s a free spirit.


    Yeah thanks for sharing that and thanks sitenoise for doing those recaps :thumbsup:

  • Something has come over JT Marvelous. Their confidence level looks to have tripled since last week. They are playing smart. My new friend Pipsqueak MB #1Aika Akutagawa is rocking it. Kanasugi hasn't woken up yet


    It helps that the NEC Red rockets are playing like children. WTF happened to them? Hirose is playing in place of Yanagita--don't know why--She has a nice serve, and like those jump serves her whole game is "Nice shot!" followed by unnecessary error.


    JT takes the first set 25-14 (or something thereabouts).


  • JT is playing with a lot of energy, I like that. I feel bad for Kitsui sitting out there, she looks so sad ;(


    Rockets is really not the same team as last year, feels like they don`t have chemistry, they should really bring a foreigner OP.


    They are playing better in the 2nd.


    I wonder what the world " HI" means? at least that is the sound I`m getting like they keep saying this word that sounds like HI...and they say it a lot, I wonder if that is a YES? All Right?

  • lol that shot of Kitsui in the stands needed a violin soundtrack. Poor girl.

  • Didn't the Rockets play poorly last year during the regular season and only kick things up once the Final 6 started? I don't know if you, or anyone was following them. I hadn't discovered V.League play until the Final Finals last year

  • Last season Rockets played well all season long, from the start to finish.


    2016-2017 Regular Season final standing.


    Final 6 Standings
    Rank, Team, Pts, Match Played, Wins, Losses, Set W-L
    1. NEC Red Rockets 17, 5, 4, 1, 12-5
    2. Hisamitsu Springs 10, 5, 3, 2, 10-12
    3. Hitachi Rivale 10, 5, 2, 3, 10-12
    4. JT Marvelous 8, 5, 2, 3, 9-12
    5. Toyota Auto Body Queensesis 8, 5, 2, 3, 10-9
    6. Toray Arrows 7, 5, 2, 3, 11-12


    EDIT: REGULAR SEASON


    Standings
    Rank, Team, Match Points, Match Wins, Sets Won-Sets Lost
    Y 1. NEC Red Rockets 43, 15, 48-27
    X 2. Hisamitsu Springs 43, 14, 52-30
    X 3. Hitachi Rivale 43, 14, 51-32
    X 4. JT Marvelous 39, 13, 45-33
    X 5. Toyota Auto Body Queenseis 30, 10, 36-43
    X 6. Toray Arrows 28, 10, 36-41
    ----- Advance to Final 6 -----
    7. Okayama Seagulls 15, 5, 26-51
    8. PFU Blue Cats 11, 3, 19-56
    X = Clinched Final 6 Berth
    Y = Clinched Regular Season Title

  • Well whaddaya know. I thought I remembered people being surprised Hisamitsu didn't just walk through it and NEC came out of nowhere. Oh well, that was last year. This is the year of JT Marvelous. They are a blast from top to bottom. It's all about entertainment value for me, less concerned about winning and losing. I'm going to learn the Kanasugi Dance. I might even look at stats after the game to see if Aika Akutagawa, who looks like she couldn't Middle Block her way out of a paper bag actually had a good game. She's hustling it on floor defense, which doesn't show up in stats but it flips my pancakes.


    Whoa! NEC wins the third set :white:

  • I wonder what the world " HI" means? at least that is the sound I`m getting like they keep saying this word that sounds like HI...and they say it a lot, I wonder if that is a YES? All Right?


    You're talking about the announcers? I love this pair. I like the two females that call together as well. Hai means, as I understand it, a range of things from "I acknowledge" to "yeah" to "yes" to "correct". These announcers go through the range.

  • I have no idea what so ever what they are saying but I like the too and the 2 female as well, I get the impression they are very knowledgeable.


    Rocketes played much better after the first set but they just could not stop Mihajlovic 's backrow attacks.

  • I thought JT played better in the third set which they lost than in that final fourth set. Mihajlovic killed it, but man, I really hate that fake-pissed drama pout that Euros do. Sure, she had two bad calls against her (one corrected), but I've never ever seen a Japanese player do that.

  • Yeah she got really mad and was kind scary lol but u have not seen anything yet, just watch the Brazilian League and u will see players doing worse than that.


    Japanese will never argue with the referees, they are very respectful.

  • Wow! :super:

  • Toyota v Denso game is good. Takahashi looks a little weak but Toyota's got a good rhythm back. Denso, however, is playing solid volleyball, and Nabeya is powering them. She looks like she has the flu. Sneezing, coughing. She wraps herself in a parka during timeouts. Get well soon, girl. Denso takes the first set

  • brahmin, I need to ask you something if u don`t mind.


    So, when I look at the stats (I`m using google translator), They have "attack" and they also have "backrow" attack. The amount of backrow attacks are included in the "attack" points or no.


    For example, Mihajlovic has 29 attacks (points) and she has 8 backrow attack points. Are the 8 included in the 29 as total? or she actually had 38 attack points?


    Thank you..