Japan - V.League V1 (Division 1, Women) 2019-2020

    Himeji just won their third set of the season:!: They should get a point

    They did it ! Himeji gets their first V1 win and they get it against the team that just beat Hisamitsu. That means Himeji has a chance of being champs this year . Go Himeji :super:

    Sun 2 Nov 2019 Results

    Home Away
    		 Set 1
    		 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Stats Vid
    NEC 3–0 Hisamitsu 25-21 25-23 25-20 75–64 Stats YT
    Toray 3–1 Kurobe 25-12 16-25 25-16 23-18 89–71 Stats YT
    Okayama 0–3 Denso 15-25 23-25 23-25 61–75 Stats YT
    Hitachi 0–3 Himeji 19-25 29-31 20-25 68–81 Stats YT
    PFU 1–3 JT 25-27 27-29 25-19 16-25 93–100 Stats YT


    Okayama looked a little lost but Haruka Miyashita is still the best floor defender in the world. Such a pleasure to watch her play --which she hasn't been doing a lot of so far this season. Sinéad had the most swings (22/39) for Denso. So there ya go. Still don't know why Sakamoto, The Denso Bomber, and 4T aren't suiting up for Denso, but it's nice to have a stash like that waiting in the wings. My money's on Denso this season.


    I still believe Himeji is Yuka Kanasugi's team. She got benched last year when college kid Riho Sadakane joined mid-season. They're playing together now the past couple matches with Colombo moving to OP (on paper only)--a reception nightmare, but if Kanasugi can get her scoring mojo back, maybe they can ignore it. Her on-court party vibe is crucial. She started this match poorly, like 1 of 9 or something but finished 19/42 @45%. Colombo is the one hidden on reception. I can't see any reason why she's playing instead of the two good, southpaw, real OPs Himeji has. Yuko Asazu was last year's V2 MVP for cryin' out loud.


    In what was a very cute moment, this is Himeji's Captain, Sakie Takahashi with a broken finger, laughing, not crying, because she can't believe her team is about to win their first V1 match ever:



    Quote from werka

    Wow I never realized how close the matchups are in Denso’s pool. Even Hisamitsu MAY miss the Top 8 bus.

    You know what's cool, the four matches that got cancelled from opening weekend will be played at the very end of the season. If things stay relatively tight in the Premier Conference they could be do or die kind of matches. A nice last weekend of the Regular Round:


    Rescheduled matches:

    Sat 4 Jan 2020

    12:00 Denso v Hisamitsu

    15:00 NEC v Okayama


    Sun 5 2020

    12:00 Denso v Okayama

    15:00 Hisamitsu v NEC

    Is Ebata still part of the NT pool for Tokyo 2020? She's good.


    As a JT fan, I really hope they start winning in 3 sets and show more consistency. When they are consistent, they can run some very good offense. They have 3 reliable OH's but I particularly like M. Tanaka. Not the tallest of players but can jump high to kill the ball in any zone. Kobata is also back at LIB so I hope the defense and passing improves more. I hope they peak at the right time and win it all. <3

    Quote from werka

    Is Ebata still part of the NT pool for Tokyo 2020? She's good.


    As a JT fan, I really hope they start winning in 3 sets and show more consistency. When they are consistent, they can run some very good offense. They have 3 reliable OH's but I particularly like M. Tanaka. Not the tallest of players but can jump high to kill the ball in any zone. Kobata is also back at LIB so I hope the defense and passing improves more. I hope they peak at the right time and win it all. <3

    I don't think Ebata has been an NT consideration for a few years. Certainly won't be for 2020. I'm not sure what happened to her. She went to France for a year (I think right before Rio), then had an injury and hasn't ever bounced back


    JT has a great receiving team, imo. They're a scrappy little confident bunch. They will do well.

    Found a stream of the NEC v Hisamitsu match. Starts at the end of Set 1


    That NEC v Hisamitsu stream is good video but it has the Mandarin Mumbler Night Watchman, meaning effectively you have to watch it in silence. That's too bad because it is an NEC Home Game in their Home Gym. Crowd noise and excitement everywhere but we can't experience it :(


    NEC is playing well. Surprise surprise. I've never liked this libero they have, Kojima, but I gotta give it to her. She's playing well. Their new setter, Sawada, is also an improvement to my eyes. I've never liked Tsukada, either. Ueno is scoring well, Yamada is blocking well. Yamauchi and Yanagita are way outplaying Koga. It's almost like the coach is trying to humiliate Koga by playing her full time. Nanami Hirose made an appearance. Wonder how she will come back after whatever injury kept her out for so long. She had just busted out, had her transformative tournament, and then went down. Sads.


    Hisamitsu has now lost more matches this season (3/5) than they lost in the last two seasons combined (2/41) :!:Honestly I wouldn't be too surprised if Hisamitsu won every match they play from here on out. Probably won't happen, but this slump is funny.

    Coach Aihara and Kumi Nakada at the NEC v Hisamitsu match:



    Highlights are up for last weekend:


    Pick of the litter is Hisamitsu v Hitachi (2–3). Observe Hisamitsu being uncharacteristically flat-footed; Hannah Tapp being not 191cm; Fabiana being 291cm.



    Only one VTV match this whole weekend :(


    I wonder if any of the v2 matches will be live, or only VOD. I'll watch v2 matches. There are some interesting players down there

    I just realized that the Mandarin Mumbler is the creature who hangs out in the lower right corner of the screen. It's like some kind of MST3000 thing.



    Quote from theloneracer

    Okayama Seagulls vs Thai Women's NT practice match result: 2-1 (25-18, 25-17, 19-25).


    Okayama played their youngster like MB Taguchi and OH Yoshioka but were defeated by the Thai NT in the third set.


    Source: https://www.sanyonews.jp/article/956420

    Raise your hand if you think I would have enjoyed seeing that match :)