Current situation is a negative from FIVB. I forget the exact details but it's something like JVA didn't have anyone in charge of monitoring FIVB's new rules about ... whatever ... I mean they seriously said "we didn't know about the new rules". I believe they appealed and lost
You guys did not paid enough 
Oh well, a medal would have been cool but I'm pretty happy with the summer overall. VNL was a little more fun because the defense was better and the point spread among attackers was more evenly distributed. But a couple of these WCh matches were heart attacks, and I love that
I'm still (mostly) convinced something happened between Seki and Yoshino. Not like the fight between Mayu and Kurogo over whether ketchup goes inside the omelette or not ... but something
Seki may have just concluded Yoshino wasn't capable of producing. If your setter loses confidence in you, you're dead. Tsu knows what's up with Yoshino and look what happened. CPR
Bottom line for me, though, was Yukiko Wada. Amazo Girl 
And overpass magnet Shimamura
I still don't understand why Ferhat didn't put Airi or Araki in for Tsukasa in the 14-13 match.
He let a 159 player mark the opposing player's main player.
I still don't understand why Ferhat didn't put Airi or Araki in for Tsukasa in the 14-13 match.
He let a 159 player mark the opposing player's main player.
You mean this moment 
I think the jury is still out on Ferhat's "coaching" skills, but I dunno. Gabi hit between them, maybe a real middle blocker would have closed the gap and Japan would be in the history books
just because you have one foreigner as a parent does not mean that your high school placed any priority on foreign languages. Yes, English is taught everywhere in Japan, but it does not mean that people speak it well. I am not trying to be judgmental of her skills. In Japan, more often than not she is in an English environment and with her club team and the national team, it is first and foremost a Japanese environment. Farhat is using interpreters when speaking to the team. He does use simple phrases in Japanese, but that would be expected for him.
Airi had no choice when decided to come to the states to study for college, basically you have to have English skills to pass classes in the states. Numerous friends of mine from Japan, who came to the states had to make sure that their English skills improved and spent maybe a year or two in prep classes (even in the states) before joining my university.
Miku Akimoto played her first match (She's OH at DSC) last night with her German club and they won the Super Cup!
Great debut game from her finishing 18 points (17/39 attacking, 1 block). She was awarded the Player of Match / MVP of the Super Cup! (I'd argue it should've went to her teammate Marta Levinska who lead with 32 points, but oh well, not Miku's fault she was chosen instead lol)
Display MoreMiku Akimoto played her first match (She's OH at DSC) last night with her German club and they won the Super Cup!
Great debut game from her finishing 18 points (17/39 attacking, 1 block). She was awarded the Player of Match / MVP of the Super Cup! (I'd argue it should've went to her teammate Marta Levinska who lead with 32 points, but oh well, not Miku's fault she was chosen instead lol)
Makes sense to award it to her. Very good encouragement to such a young player. Also a good start for a prominent player from a prominent national team.
Nice, wish to see her in UYBA with Seki so they can develop their chemistry.
Sato is now signed to VPA. She will most likely sign to an A1 team after this season
Nice to see this! She already mentioned on interviews that she's targeting to play overseas next season. She said the goal is to have overseas experience before LA Olympics.
Nice, wish to see her in UYBA with Seki so they can develop their chemistry.
Having another Japanese player will help Sato a lot. For a lot of reasons. I was actually expecting Seki to go to a better team. She's the best setter in WC.
Ferhat is paying close attention to Akimoto in German league
I don't think Valdes is in his radar at this point
Can somebody give an update on Valdes? since she's already naturalized will she finally be able to play for Japan this year?
Can somebody give an update on Valdes? since she's already naturalized will she finally be able to play for Japan this year?
I feel like even if she was allowed, it would ruin Akimoto's chances since she also plays opp. Ferhat is already keeping a close eye on Akimoto.
I feel like even if she was allowed, it would ruin Akimoto's chances since she also plays opp. Ferhat is already keeping a close eye on Akimoto.
Akimoto is supposed to play as OH, she came to Dresden to fully train and play on that position.
I feel like even if she was allowed, it would ruin Akimoto's chances since she also plays opp. Ferhat is already keeping a close eye on Akimoto.
Idts. Valdes is so much stronger than Akimoto (both have horrible defense) but she's got a good serve and at least having her around would expand their options.
Miyabe on playing opp this season + NT stuff
https://sportiva.shueisha.co.j…volleyball/2026/01/03/27/
Kinda long + copy paste from google trans
――Airi, you yourself have seen changes this season. You excelled as a middle blocker for the Japanese national team, and in recent years played as a middle blocker for Himeji too, but this season you're playing opposite. What prompted this change?
Miyabe: I know, it's intriguing, isn't it? (laughs) It's difficult to give a concise answer, but fundamentally, when I joined Himeji, I had almost no intention of playing as a middle blocker. I think I was an outside hitter back then. Even at university in America, I played as either left or right hitter – essentially as an outside hitter. So joining Himeji and starting to play as a middle blocker felt like starting from scratch, or rather, it was irregular...
However, aiming for the Olympics and playing for the national team, I felt my chances were higher playing as a middle blocker, so I decided to give it my all there. I wanted to give my all for the Japanese national team. With so many players who want to join but can't, if I'd been given this chance, how much could I increase my own probability of reaching my goal? For me, that path was choosing to play as a middle hitter.
For a while after that, I thought I'd only just started playing as a middle hitter and needed to practise and gain experience, so I played as a middle hitter both for Himeji and the national team. But then the national team coach changed, and I felt like I wanted a new challenge too. If possible, I wanted to try playing both middle and outside hitter simultaneously – though I'm currently playing opposite. Around the New Year a year ago, I had already discussed with the team that I wanted to play opposite, so this wasn't a sudden decision; it was a choice I'd thought through.
With the national team, it was the first season under the new coach, so it was difficult to suddenly try something new or different, hence I played as a middle blocker. But now, turning 27 this year, I want to take the time to make significant changes, take on challenges, and gain new skills and experience. I wanted to challenge myself slowly, taking a long-term view, and that's how I arrived at this point.
――Even so, your time to play as an opposite after the national team was limited. Wasn't it tough?
Miyabe: It was absolutely brutal (laughs). I joined the team about two weeks before the league started, so it was hard to switch smoothly. It was a messy situation right from the start.
――Has your experience playing as a middle blocker for the national team and at Himeji helped you in your role as an opposite hitter?
Miyabe: I haven't felt it in any particularly concrete way yet, but perhaps I've become able to think things like, ‘They'll probably want to use the B quick now, so I should go help here,’ or ‘If I go in to help, the middle blocker can more easily go to the right-side block.’
In matches, I actually say things like, ‘I'll cover the quick, so you can focus more on the right side.’ With the national team, Sarina Koga would give specific instructions about blocking, like, ‘I'll jump and block here, so please do this.’ Just having that conversation made things much easier, so that's something I want to do too.
――Moving from middle blocker to opposite hitter felt like something quite special, but there is a precedent: during the 2012 London Olympics final, (Dmitry) Muserskiy (Russia) switched from middle blocker to opposite hitter during the match.
Miyabe: When I mentioned wanting to play opposite, Mr Nagae (Shoji) – who was previously the Himeji coach and is now the Queens Kariya coach – told me about Muserskiy's story. Before coaching the women's team, Mr Nagae coached the men's team, so he had that kind of information. I hadn't known about it, so it was very fresh to me. Moreover, I heard it completely changed the flow of the match, so I think it's truly remarkable.
