Japan - V.League V1 (Division 1, Women) 2023-2024

    Nwakalor did what Plummer did for Denso a few years ago only twice Plummer's digits and she was going double every single match. This is the end for Toray. Also, anyone else found it weird that Toray Inoue had to celebrate her retirement at Saga's homegame? that's never happened before.

    Quote from gkv

    Nwakalor did what Plummer did for Denso a few years ago only twice Plummer's digits and she was going double every single match. This is the end for Toray. Also, anyone else found it weird that Toray Inoue had to celebrate her retirement at Saga's homegame? that's never happened before.

    This is just a theory since I found no correlation of that area being her hometown but in the past there were instances when some players would hold their retirement ceremony at an Away Game since it's being held in their hometown where their relatives can also attend but since that's not the case I think it could have something to do with the fact that Ohtake and Sakae are her last active teammates from the same generation as her from her time at Denso and Hitachi.


    It was really nice to see all of the players from both teams come together for the mandatory air throw. Now that's something that I'm sure has never happened before

    Quote from Phoenix

    This is just a theory since I found no correlation of that area being her hometown but in the past there were instances when some players would hold their retirement ceremony at an Away Game since it's being held in their hometown where their relatives can also attend but since that's not the case I think it could have something to do with the fact that Ohtake and Sakae are her last active teammates from the same generation as her from her time at Denso and Hitachi.


    It was really nice to see all of the players from both teams come together for the mandatory air throw. Now that's something that I'm sure has never happened before

    That kinda makes sense but why couldn't she have celebrated it at their historical gym where players like Saori, Sakoda, Takada, Nakamichi etc held their retirement? it doesn't really bode well especially as it's a Toray pride thing and she was also part of the NT B team in the past with awards to boost.

    Quote from gkv

    That kinda makes sense but why couldn't she have celebrated it at their historical gym where players like Saori, Sakoda, Takada, Nakamichi etc held their retirement? it doesn't really bode well especially as it's a Toray pride thing and she was also part of the NT B team in the past with awards to boost.

    You have to keep in mind that was a very different time. Back when women's volleyball was the main attraction and Toray can pull in a 10K crowd in a snap. This season they can't even make it past 2K and they just lost all their stars.


    Not to sound like a Saga dork right now but they have a new ultra modern ultra sleek arena and they're currently #1 when it comes to having a huge home audience among V1F teams. It may not be Toray's ground but at least there are plenty of fans to celebrate Inoue's retirement with her. I think it went well and she was honored by her longtime friends.

    saga could have offered (when have they not? they take every opportunity to showcase that damn arena) since the timing was right. toray wouldn't advance into the finals anyway which is a first for them in a long time so there's also that


    inoue is a dinosaur and the only other dinosaurs left are in saga :whistle:

    Quote from Phoenix

    I think it could have something to do with the fact that Ohtake and Sakae are her last active teammates from the same generation as her from her time at Denso and Hitachi.

    close enough but her best friend is Koyomi Tominaga/Iwasaki. Koyomi even made Inoue the godmother of her son


    if inoue hadnt torn her acl last year she would probably still be going strong

    Quote from Raf

    close enough but her best friend is Koyomi Tominaga/Iwasaki. Koyomi even made Inoue the godmother of her son


    if inoue hadnt torn her acl last year she would probably still be going strong

    I didn't know that but they were never teammates. Inoue was teammates with both Otake and Sakae at Denso where she spent her longest playing career

    Quote from Hassan Kadem

    saga definitely got lucky this season with adams but theyre nowhere close to being a cohesive team. i hate their current lineup. messy roster with so many injuries especially araki rushing in and out interrupting the flow etc.


    nishimura will probably be best receiver again this season but we'll have to see if that works in the nt since her debut was so dry people forgot she was part of it

    Makes me kinda sad you are not enjoying the SAGAs. I think this might be the season I'm enjoying them the most

    Mandai finally looks like she belongs. Miyu's hair is perfect. I'm fine with the middle blocker merry-go-round. Hammy is so fresh. I'm glad Nishimura is finally a full time libero. Love that "Saki" is hard to like

    Regular Round Final Numbers
    Top 6 to Final Stage

    # Team W L Rate Pts. Set W
    		 Set L
    		 Rate Pts. W
    		 Pts. L Rate
    1 JT
    		22 0 1.000 63 66 14 4.714 1960 1619 1.211
    2 NEC
    		18 4 0.818 53 57 23 2.478 1898 1582 1.200
    3 SAGA 18 4 0.818 51 58 25 2.320 1925 1673 1.151
    4 Saitama
    		 15 7 0.682 45 50 27 1.852 1814 1665 1.089
    5 Denso 12 10 0.545 40 48 35 1.371 1858 1815 1.024
    6 Toyota 12 10 0.545 37 44 39 1.128 1797 1841 0.976
    7 Hitachi
    		 9 13 0.409 26 35 47 0.745 1838 1865 0.986
    8 Toray
    		 8 14 0.364 23 31 49 0.633 1694 1884 0.899
    9 Okayama
    		 7 15 0.318 21 30 52 0.577 1761 1871 0.941
    10 PFU 7 15 0.318 20 25 50 0.500 1655 1756 0.942
    11 Kurobe
    		 4 18 0.182 16 34 60 0.567 1893 2137 0.886
    12 Prestige
    		 0 22 0.000 1 9 66 0.136 1460 1845 0.791


    Teams 3-6 play a semi-quarter-final kind of thing:

    SAGA v Toyota
    Saitama Denso

    The winners play a semifinal with the top 2. The losers play a 5th place match

    Teams ranked 7th-12th keep that rank and are finished playing

    Quote from Phoenix

    best libero



    to me

    In my view all the liberos in the J league (Div 1,2&3) have exceptional skills and it’ll be hard for me to pick the best one :lol:

    I watched the final round of the Thai women’s league on Sunday and Kotoe Inoue delivered another outstanding performance to help her team, Nakhon Ratchasima become champions... and didn’t Kotoe play for NEC Red Rockets before ?


    instagram


    Speaking of the Red Rockets, if ever there was an award for the ‘Happiest’ team, my choice would be them for this season. They seem to be really enjoying themselves on the court and off it :heart:

    VolleyBoss

    Very vague announcement. Not even the country nor the club was mentioned.


    I honestly think Seki isn't right for Imoco but good luck if she does end up going there as rumored. She should put all her motivation towards surviving the Olympics first.

    I can't find the Spring High thread so


    Spotlight on Yuko Okamoto coach of Asahikawa Highschool who came in 3rd at this year's Haruko. It's a historic feat for that unknown little school lol. 1987 was the last time they were champions so yeah it's a huge deal for them. According to some articles the school's volleyball club almost got demoted to a test Snow Volley club last 2022


    Uhhhhh I'm not gonna go too much into detail but for those who followed Haruko, the school's ace, Kasai, seems to be the public fave or at least made a huge impression not only for her skills but also her full throttle attitude on the court (emphasis on attitude). She's going to or is already at Queenseis I'm not sure.


    Anyway this line is what I wanted to point out


    Okamoto: What I feel when coaching girls is that their emotions tend to come out first. Sometimes they say, "I don't wanna talk about it because I don't like it." But even if they don't like it, it's necessary to talk about it on the court. I told them, "Do what you need to do," rather than, "Get along with everyone."


    https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/860302?page=3


    This is the first time I've seen anyone say this including in V League and the NT since most coaches like to perpetuate the idea of UNITY or Death but no one likes to talk about the ugly side of clashing with your teammates. Ironic since that's what made Haikyuu a hit with teenagers. But I get it these are a bunch of hormonal highschoolers am I right? but does that magically change once you hit pro? obviously V Leaguers are legally not allowed to talk about it or hint at who they might hate lmao but I'm sure that's 78% of why some combinations are the way they are despite x being better. Just saying

    i dont know who you're talking about but i agree with what you're trying to say. sometimes it's not even about players getting along or some players having an ego, sometimes you just can't be close to certain people who you're forced to work with and that's completely normal nothing wrong with that. kind of like koga and mayu but there's an age gap so it's understandable. even saori is rumored to not get along with shinnabe back in the day. but more importantly they just don't have synergy. chemistry is the only thing you can't force and no amount of talent can fill that.