73rd All-Japan High School Championship 2021 (Jan 5–10)

  • Valdes has the jump and hang time of Foluke. It's nuts. At 183cm and athletic af it doesn't matter where she is on court, she just runs and jumps and hangs out in the air until the ball comes her way. You can watch yesterday's match here. It was a fine battle the first two sets. Furukawa took the first one, Hitachi the second. Then Hitachi got tired and Furukawa walked away with it.


    Hitachi #2, (I think her name is Aika Ishizaki) is a little squirt at 171cm but she packs a wallop (and she's a super happy camper!). I really thought Hitachi might send Furukawa home. They were digging Valdes and Ishizaki was landing them. But being so short Ishizaki was more prone to getting blocked. When Ishizaki went to the back row (no back attack from her) the other OH, who's actually pretty good too, failed. Hitting errors galore.


    Hitachi had a tough match the day before and you could see them getting tired. Making lazy mistakes. Furukawa didn't play in the first round so they were fresh.

    Wait sportsbull is streaming for free? I need to catch up


    Who's the little giant they're talking about?

  • Chinzai girls from Kumamoto come through again. Quarterfinals here we come.


    Damn Furukawa and their baby-pants look took out two of my favorites, Hitachi and Nara.


    Oh no. Furukawa v Chinzei in the QF :box:

  • Wait sportsbull is streaming for free? ,


    Who's the little giant they're talking about?

    Yes , sportsbull is fantastically free -- up to SF or maybe just the final, but even that is only delayed for a few hours.


    I don't know who the little giant is?

  • Who's the little giant they're talking about?

    Oh! I bet it's my super hero Rino Murooka on Higashi. 162cm MVP of last year's Championship (as a junior)

  • I am so back on the Kyoei Gakuen train. I love teams that play with six players :rose:

  • I am so back on the Kyoei Gakuen train. I love teams that play with six players :rose:

    I take that back. First 15 sets have gone to this idol girl #1. She a very fine attacker, especially because she does it from everywhere, but it's too much


    [Edit] I take it back again. Now everyone is involved. That was some weird-ass start to the 2nd set

  • This is Kyoei's "ace"



    Manami Koyama #1

  • Kyoei is playing stupid volleyball now

  • Too bad for Kyoei. That was a short romance for me :) Manami Koyama would have been a star of this tournament if they made Semis. She's good but not good enough to play hero ball with. Seishin (Aichi) beat them. This is only the second time Seishin has qualified for this Tournament.

  • Round 3 Results 2021.01.07

    Seiwa Joshi0–2
    Shujitsu
    Kinrankai2–0Kagoshima Girls
    Higashi Kyushu Ryukoku2–0Keiai Gakuen
    Shiojiri2–0Saga Seiwa
    Kasukabe Kyoei0–2
    Chinzei
    Nara Culture0–2
    Furukawa
    Yonezawa0–2
    Osaka
    Seishin2–1Kyoei Gakuen


    Pretty much according to plan except for Kyoei.



    Here's how the QFs lineup:


    Higashi - - Shiojiri

    Kinrankai - - Shujitsu

    Chinzei - - Furukawa

    Osaka - - Seishin


    Higashi is the only one that will be easy.

  • Quarterfinal Results 2021.01.07

    Higashi Kyushi Ryukoku
    2–0Shiojiri
    Kinrankai0–2Shujitsu
    Osaka2–1Seishin
    Chinzei0–2Furukawa


    Unbelievably, they played the QFs last night right after the 3rd Round ended so I missed them. Who ever heard of such nonsense?


    Wait, I have. That's what they did last year :aww:


    So anyway, pretty much according to plan except for the Shujitsu [25–23, 25–23] win over Kinrankai. I'm happy about that. Yuki Ishii vibes and whatnot. Kinrankai needed a dose of the humble pie.


    The Osaka [19–25, 25–21, 25, 13] win would have been a nail biter after losing the first set. Who is this Seishin team? Kudos to them for making a big splash in the tournament.


    Higashi [25–22, 25–12] over Shiojiri is no surprise.


    Furukawa [25–20, 25–20] over Chinzei is no surprise but it sucks.



    The Semifinals is thus:


    Higashi - - Osaka

    Shujitsu - - Furukawa


    #gogo Shujitsu :super:


    It will likely be a rematch of last year Higashi v Furukawa but I'm not counting the NoSmiler farm team out. It's going to be like JT v Okayama:

    • Higashi is known as the "Hammer Club"
    • Osaka is where the NoSmiler defense is incubated
  • Let's have a round of applause for these kids. They made the quarterfinals the 2nd year they qualified for the Tournament.

    Seishin High School

    AKA:

    • Honesty Colleges
    • Integrity College
    • Sacred Heart Koto school
    • 誠信高等学校



  • 10 reasons to root for Shujitsu tonight:

    1. Shujitsu is a cool name for a school
    2. Both their middle blockers back attack :!:
    3. Twin sisters Megumi and Tsugumi are in the starting lineup
    4. Cool female coach
    5. black uniforms
    6. They are a handsome lot
    7. Their school is in Okayama
    8. They're NoSmilers (something about Okayama)
    9. They are playing Furukawa
    10. They beat Kinrankai
  • I got caught up and watched the quarterfinals I missed due to a brain fart. This is god damn good volleyball now.

  • Merisa/Melisa Valdes is talking about becoming naturalized and carrying the Japan women's NT on her back =O God I hope Shujitsu shows her the door tonight :super:

  • Quote

    The girls have a sense of stability in the previous champion, Higashi Kyushu Ryukoku (Oita). The power of the last best player, 162 cm ace Rino Murooka (3 years) is also high. On the other hand, Osaka International Takii also has a lot of strength. Both teams have a quick combination volleyball, and the setter's ball turning is drawing attention.


    Shujitsu (Okayama) won from No Seed. Last year's high school overall queen has momentum centered on twins Megumi and Tsugumi Fukasawa (both 2nd year). Furukawa Gakuen (Miyagi), on the other hand, suffers when the toss is biased toward the Cuban student Melisa Valdes (3rd year).

    Source

  • Trim your toenails and comb your nose hair, here we go ...


    https://sportsbull.jp/live/haruko/zenkoku/1565/

  • NoSmilers 13–0 Higashi :dance6:

  • 16–2 =O


    This is hilarious.


    The beauty of Rino Murooka is that she is not worried about it at all :rose:

  • Osaka is getting their hands on everything. And hitting freely.


    Higashi is a very short team except for the nerdy freshman white girl MB