74th All-Japan High School Championship 2022 (Jan 5–9)

Quote from volleyb

Seitoku is just too strong for Jonan. I like Jonan's captain.

Do you mean #1? She seems like the Captain and I believe she went to the official's table after the match, but volleyball monthly has the #2 libero as Captain. Either way. I like her too

I enjoyed their match yesterday. Seitoku just overwhelmed them tonight

Nara Bunka

Tonight's heroes!

Love that team

Round 2 Results 2022.01.06

Nara Bunka is emerging as my team of choice. They hustle , have one of those cute tiny liberos, and their setter is crazy the way she alternates between Seitoku throws and bullets. It must just be that they are playing against high school defense that she can get away with putting the ball right on the net, right next to the pin, as 'the play'. One would think it'd be easy to block that. Their "ace" OP has a unique kill switch. Like, no follow through or something. It's novel so I like it

Sad to see the Shiojiri girls go home but very happy the Shintoku girls are sticking around for another match

I don't know if Higashi/Kyoei was the 'match of the night' but it made a splash. It made me sick the way Kyoei played but I still wanted them to win. I like Arina Tsutsumi , and she did pretty much single-handedly win the match , but Ew!

Funny that Hachioji Jissen and Seitoku are like JT and Toray to me , so I don't care about them too much. Seitoku seem so big, but beyond MB Airi Furukawa they aren't all that tall. Airi is making great strides. Cracks me up the way she kills high sets up the middle. I bet she enters V.League as an OP one year from today

Furukawa Gakuen's giant DOM MB is sort of lackadaisical but dominating. Still don't know what her name is for sure ... Gaoqiao Yangguoli ?? ... and can't remember where I read she is from DOM

Shujitsu's leader twin barks a lot now. Their second OH Norimi Soga is much more fun, and their setter, Saki Iwamoto, is cool too. She won them the Championship last year as a freshman. It was only one match against a medium opponent but I'm not sure they look like champions

Today will be both Round 3 AND the Quarterfinals. Mark your calendars!

Round 3 2022.01.07 starts at 10:00 jst (followed by the QF at 14:20 or thereabouts)

I would love to see the Shintoku Girls send Seitoku packin'. I can dream

I'd also like to see the Shinai Girls send Shujitsu packin' and "Meiko" send JT Hachioji home. That's how I roll

Osaka/Kyoei will either be the most closely contested match of the night or a blowout for Osaka. Tough to go against the NoSmiler farm team but Kyoei is like a drug. Bad for me but I can't give it up

Miyakonojo/Kinrankai might also be surprisingly close

Quote from wargirls

I'm stanning Seitoku's two outside hitters and I'm starting to like their high ball style although sometimes it looks like the setter is "throwing" the ball instead of "setting" it

Oh, they are highly stannable Yui Hamamura (if I have her name right) is one of those who must be going to college or some team would have grabbed her. She's only 171cm but plays a lot bigger.

From what I've seen of Seitoku this year they just seem to have more game than everybody else. I think this championship is theirs to lose. IIRC Hachioji beat them at some point but I don't see that happening again. It will be interesting to see how the matchups work out from here

Personally, I'm jumping on the Airi Furukawa stan train ... I really like it when you can see players grow and improve. She's adding some aggression to her swing and her jump seems almost fully coordinated now

Quote from wargirls

Kinrankai on the other hand is quite boring to watch, their golden era has ended

yeah, I got excited last night when Matsuyama came out the gate strong against them, but alas

I can't get excited about Hachioji. They have a 2nd year MB/OP player, Rin Takizawa, as tall as Furukawa but built like a football player. I think she's moved to OP at this point. I didn't tune in much to the match last night. I'm going to try and get a few more of their players on vBox so I'll have a point of reference if they keep going

Quote from wargirls

Was that a foul? I really mean that something weird has to happen for them to get beat

Quote from wargirls

it was my way of telling you not to jinx them

oh yeah

I forgot how powerful the jinx is

Even though I will have to root against them tonight against Nara Culture, let's give these Yame Gakuin girls a little love. This is the first time they've qualified for this tournament and they made the Sweet Sixteen They also have one of the best roster photos going

Both matches 14–10

Shujitsu ahead / Hachioji behind

G0 Mieko

[Edit] WOW . The Mie girls are hitting smart and Hachioji couldn't do anything about it 25 – 18

GO Mieko

Hachioji look stunned . Mie 5–0

I'm moving this match to the big screen

Mieko are making these outlandish plays where Hachioji just stands there in awe. On the other hand Mie is playing simple straight forward volleyball. I feel a budding vomance

Mie 16–10 stay focused

OMG

That wasn't just an upset win , that was a shellacking 25–18, 25–17

Mieko's finely executed offensive game was made possible by some exquisite block coverage. Never let the ball drop in front of the three point line

Shujitsu won, but the Shinai girls gave them a run