Japan - V.League V1 (Division 1, Women) 2022-2023

    Quote from Julian Chow

    ....now you have me confused....your =O meaning it'll be one sided with total Toray domination or are we in for a big shock of an upset victory? which i prefer :roll:

    I mean Toray should be scared shitless, but I'm very un-serious. I make stuff up all the time just for fun :)


    And I want Kurobe to win and believe in the power of positive thinking and the double reverse sidewinder jinx :cheesy:

    Quote from Julian Chow

    I think I'll try some positive thinking on Okayama ....?(

    Welcome to the club :drink:

    Hisamitsu with a season saving win today. Still any Ageo win basically put them in front of the Springs with Ageo’s two matches in hand. If Springs can take two from NEC, then 5 team battle for 4 spots through the end of the season.


    Himeji is going to be one of the two Challenge match teams. Need 3 wins to get out of bottom two and I just don’t see them doing that.

    Kurobe with two win advantage over Okayama to not be in the Challenge matches. Okayama would pass them on points if tied on wins, due to 4 5-set losses, but two of those are against Kurobe.


    Hitachi puts Hanna in the starting lineup and delivers, but still another loss for them. At this point, the team is about what they are and have been for like 3 years. Coaching change might help, but may need to add ASEAN player to improve. If Hanna stays that is her call, she’ll contribute anyways. I mean if she was on Himeji, I think they are much better team.


    Sara Wilhite with NEC is doing the great exchange student experience. Living on the team dime, traveling and not getting in matches. I mean NEC could have saved money and not signed her and basically would still be about the same spot they are. Not knocking Sara, but she is getting paid more than her teammates to not play. I get that sometimes people don’t fit systems, but you had her last year play in 28 matches. So far this year 5.

    Here is the standings movement through Sunday, January 22nd, 2023 games.


    Remember that some teams are a couple of matches short of other teams, and those are taken into account.


    Quote from Julian Chow

    Tanacha looks slimmer and Pimpichaya the opposite (although this is just looking at their faces)

    They both look fit on court. Thanacha doesn't ever show that smile, tho. Okayama rules :obey:

    Quote from sitenoise

    They both look fit on court. Thanacha doesn't ever show that smile, tho. Okayama rules :obey:

    Thanacha may not be as expressive as say, Acharaporn but she does smile occasionally....when she does it looks like it's coming straight from the heart...enough to melt anyone's heart ♥ (mine at least lolsss).


    I got a feeling she'll smile more if Okayama can win more matches...:)

    Quote from Julian Chow

    I got a feeling she'll smile more if Okayama can win more matches...:)

    You'll be surprised: Okayama are masters of the "Poker face" :rolll::rolll:

    PFU Coach is a goofball but he's one of the more interesting, if a little combative/snarky, coaches in the vbm post game blurbages:



    vbm----- The team ranks first in blocks (number of blocked shots per set), but is at the bottom in terms of serve effectiveness. What do you think about the lack of serve-and-block balance in terms of numbers?


    SAKAMOTO: Yes? That's a hard thing to say. Blocks are simply a matter of counting them. You just count the number of blocks and divide by the number of sets.

    But the serve effectiveness ratio is a calculation method created by the V-League, isn't it? So, I just think that volleyball is not being played in accordance with that calculation method. The way a team plays is not determined by the method used to calculate the ranking.

    The numbers are not supposed to increase if the number of goals scored is too high. Even if your serve is at the bottom, it doesn't mean your team is at the bottom, right?


    vbm----- I understand what you are saying.


    SAKAMOTO: I would say that the high percentage of lost points is a concern. Today, too, there were many mistakes on first serves. If you start with a mistake, it is easy for the opponent. It's not even close. It's always "out" or "net," right? There are times when you can win even if you make a lot of serve errors. But I don't think it's entertaining to have a lot of (obvious) serve misses. It is not good to play in a way that is uninteresting to the audience, and it takes away from our chances to win.



    *** I think the "serve effectiveness" ranking is a load of nonsense. But if someone I like wins it I'll brag about it :)

    LOL. I never liked PFU's coach because he used to unnecessarily be in everything the girls did but he actually stopped doing that lmao. I think it was right around the time the Denso kids came into the picture. Chibi spiker, yamashita and airi tahara became best buds so fast that they started doing all the goofy promos for the team. Ironically Nabeya used to be the goofy oddball in Denso but compared to those 3 she really mellowed out.


    EDIT: whew i had to rewrite that first sentence

    Quote from Playmaker

    istg there are 2 mikoto shimas at pfu. when they stand side by side is the only time i can tell them apart but i usually mistake them for each other even though i don't know the name of the other mikoto shima

    Which girl are you talking about?


    I always confuse NEC's Ueno and Furuya. Same face same hair they're practically the same person

    Hitachi / Toyota is a good match up. Cuttino is scoring at will but the rest of her game makes it a wash. Someone needs to make a highlight reel of her trying to tip


    Tapp is playing with better buzz this year than in previous years. Saiga should jump on it and feed her more balls


    Nice that one time It Girl Rui Nonaka has made her way back into the lineup. She has more complete game than Okubu Oba

    Oh no :( Hannah Tapp is down and crying. Going off on a stretcher