Japan - V.League V1 (Division 1, Women) 2018-2019

    Last chance to see the lovely and melancholy Okayama NoSmilers:

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    on the other side of the net, equally as lovely, the party pair of middle blockers: #11 Kyōko Aoyagi & Jaja :!:

    With NEC still to play today the schedule for Final 8 is out


    March 2

    Hisamitsu vs. Denso

    Toyota vs. Hitachi

    E1 vs. Toray


    March 3

    Hisamitsu vs. Toyota

    JT vs. E2

    Denso vs. Hitachi


    March 9

    Hisamitsu vs. Toray

    E1 vs. Toyota

    JT vs. Denso

    E2 vs. Hitachi


    March 10

    Hisamitsu vs. Hitachi

    Denso vs. Toyota

    E1 vs. JT

    E2 vs. Toray


    March 16

    E1 vs. Denso

    Hisamitsu vs. E2

    Hitachi vs. Toray

    JT vs. Toyota


    March 17

    E1 vs. Hitachi

    Hisamitsu vs. JT

    Denso vs. Toray

    E2 vs. Toyota


    March 23

    E1 vs. E2

    Toyota vs. Toray

    JT vs. Hitachi


    March 24

    E1 vs. Hisamitsu

    JT vs. Toray

    E2 vs. Denso

    So right now here is what the Final 8 points will look like prior to NEC's match today. IF NEC win in <5 sets, they will finish 1st in the East and Ageo will finish 2nd. IF NEC lose or do not take 3 points, then it will have to wait until next Saturday's Ageo-Denso match.


    Hisamitsu 6

    NEC/Ageo 6

    JT 4

    Ageo/NEC 4

    Toyota 2

    Denso 2

    Toray 0

    Hitachi 0

    Challenge Stage will be only single round robin.


    If PFU loses once then Kurobe will finish 5th in the East.


    Points to start will be

    Okayama 1

    Kurobe/PFU 1

    PFU/Kurobe 0


    Schedule for the Challenge Stage

    March 9

    E5 vs. Okayama


    March 16

    E5 vs. E6


    March 17

    Okayama vs. E6

    Quote from brahmin

    If PFU loses once then Kurobe will finish 5th in the East.

    Do you mean if PFU loses once in the Final stage? Then Kurobe is safe from the deportation match? I don't understand


    At this point Kurobe has 7 points, PFU 2 points, so that part is set.


    [Edit] oh, PFU has 2 matches left. I get it.


    A Kurobe win could also do the deed.


    Whoah! PFU 2–0 Toray.


    that hurts

    And all you people were counting NEC out, and left them to rot on the sidelines.


    Wait. That was me :rolll:

    Quote from theloneracer

    Back to reality for PFU as Toray win the 3rd set 25-11. :hit:

    That's mean :rolll:

    Oh PFU :(

    Challenge Stage data is now updated with today's results


    Challenge Stage will be only single round robin.


    Points to start will be

    Okayama 1

    Kurobe 1

    PFU 0


    Schedule for the Challenge Stage

    March 9

    Kurobe vs. Okayama


    March 16

    Kurobe vs. PFU


    March 17

    Okayama vs. PFU

    Final 8 Schedule Updated with NEC's win to clinch the East


    Standings to Start the Final 8

    Hisamitsu 6

    NEC 6

    JT 4

    Ageo 4

    Toyota 2

    Denso 2

    Toray 0

    Hitachi 0


    March 2

    Hisamitsu vs. Denso

    Toyota vs. Hitachi

    NEC vs. Toray


    March 3

    Hisamitsu vs. Toyota

    JT vs. Ageo

    Denso vs. Hitachi


    March 9

    Hisamitsu vs. Toray

    NEC vs. Toyota

    JT vs. Denso

    Ageo vs. Hitachi


    March 10

    Hisamitsu vs. Hitachi

    Denso vs. Toyota

    NEC vs. JT

    Ageo vs. Toray


    March 16

    NEC vs. Denso

    Hisamitsu vs. Ageo

    Hitachi vs. Toray

    JT vs. Toyota


    March 17

    NEC vs. Hitachi

    Hisamitsu vs. JT

    Denso vs. Toray

    Ageo vs. Toyota


    March 23

    NEC vs. Ageo

    Toyota vs. Toray

    JT vs. Hitachi


    March 24

    NEC vs. Hisamitsu

    JT vs. Toray

    Ageo vs. Denso

    Final 8 Interconference Records


    Toyota Auto Body Queenseis 8-0, 24 points

    NEC 2-0, 6

    Saitama Ageo 2-0, 6

    Denso 2-0, 6

    Hitachi 2-0, 6


    Hisamitsu Springs 7-1, 18 points

    NEC 2-0, 5

    Saitama Ageo 1-1, 3

    Denso 2-0, 5

    Hitachi 2-0, 5


    Toray Arrows 6-2, 17 points

    NEC 1-1, 3

    Saitama 2-0, 6

    Denso 1-1, 3

    Hitachi 2-0, 5


    JT Marvelous 4-4, 15 points

    NEC 1-1, 3

    Saitama Ageo 1-1, 4

    Denso 1-1, 4

    Hitachi 1-1, 4


    NEC Red Rockets 2-6, 7 points

    Hisamitsu 0-2, 1

    JT 1-1, 3

    Toyota 0-2,0

    Toray 1-1, 3


    Denso Airybees 2-6, 6 points

    Hisamitsu 0-2, 1

    JT 1-1, 2

    Toyota 0-2, 0

    Toray 1-1, 3


    Saitama Ageo Medics 2-6, 5 points

    Hisamitsu 1-1, 3

    JT 1-1, 2

    Toyota 0-2, 0

    Toray 0-2, 0


    Hitachi Rivale 1-7, 4 points

    Hisamitsu 0-2, 1

    JT 1-1, 2

    Toyota 0-2, 0

    Toray 0-2, 1

    Toyota had some minor injuries (or something) this season that impacted their flow. At times, Takahashi, Watanabe, Muranaga, even Neriman were in street clothes. THey are in a bit of a hole going into the Final 8. I don't think Ushiseto improved the team at all but I have an irrational ho-hum towards her. What they really lacked was the strength and confidence to not get rattled when they were behind. Three teams that surprised me with this confidence this season were Toray, Saitama, and NEC! It's an impressive quality and was a pleasure to see them gain it as the season progressed.

    Sun 17 Feb 2019 Results

    Home Team Away Team
    		 Set 1
    		 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Stats
    Denso Airybees 0–3 Toyota Body Queens 18-25 20-25 17-25 55–75 Stats
    Okayama Seagulls 0–3 Saitama Ageo Medics 21-25 19-25 25-27 65–77 Stats
    Toray Arrows 3–2 PFU BlueCats 23-25 23-25 25-11 25-21 15-9 111–91 Stats
    NEC Red Rockets 3–1 Kurobe AquaFairies 25-22 25-18 24-26 25-23 99–89 Stats


    Sinéad with ZERO blocks again. That's four of her last five games with zero blocks. What the bleep is up with that? Araki had five.


    Okayama v Saitama was great side out volleyball until the end of sets. Looked like the NoSmilers were going to turn it around in the 3rd, but the Keti show was too formidable. Not the most satisfying ending to the season for this Okayama fan but I think they showed they got the stuff and are full fledged members of the V1.


    Chatchu-on (17/31, 54%, 4/8 from downtown) did her best to try and get a PFU win this year, but alas. I couldn't find a stream of the match until reality had already set in for PFU. Jana Kulan is quite tall.


    The NEC/Rhamat thing is a little sad. I enjoyed her energy, and was rooting for her, but she really didn't add anything to the team. It still surprises me how young and gangling she looks on court.


    The Middle Blocker infusion this year was not a success. It was less boring than the OHs who did lift their teams to winning--Keti and Kulan--but hands down the most exciting volleyball this season came from foreigner-free Okayama and Hitachi when they played sans-foreigner. Jaja was a lot of fun, and Foluke is still the coolest looking volleyball player in the world.


    In Conference Records of Final 8 Teams


    Western Conference

    Hisamitsu Springs 5-1, 16 points

    JT 1-1, 4

    Toyota 2-0, 6

    Toray 2-0, 6

    JT Marvelous 4-2, 12 points

    Hisamitsu 1-1, 2

    Toyota 1-1, 4

    Toray 2-0 6


    Toray Arrows 2-4, 5 points

    Hisamitsu 0-2, 0

    JT 0-2, 0

    Toyota 2-0, 5


    Toyota Auto Body Queenseis 1-5, 3 points

    Hisamitsu 0-2, 0

    JT 1-1, 2

    Toray 0-2, 1


    Eastern Conference

    NEC Red Rockets 4-2, 12 points

    Ageo 0-2, 1

    Denso 2-0, 6

    Hitachi 2-0, 5


    Saitama Ageo Medics 3-2, 9 points (1 match to play against Denso)

    NEC 2-0, 5

    Denso 0-1, 0

    Hitachi 1-1, 4

    Denso Airybees 3-2, 9 points (1 match to play against Ageo)

    NEC 0-2, 0

    Ageo 1-0, 3

    Hitachi 2-0, 6


    Hitachi Rivale 1-5, 3 points

    NEC 0-2, 1

    Ageo 1-1, 2

    Denso 0-2, 0

    The Middle Blocker as a foreigner is a tough call, now with the 1 + 1 Asean player format, you can get one for each middle and outside/opposite. Teams with good middle blockers already, such as Toyota with Araki could then bring in a second middle from an Asean country.


    In the past when you only had one player available, the outside hitter or opposite were the way to go, from an offensive basis.