Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers climbed out of the cellar in Japan’s Daido Life SV.League on Sunday after a surprise five-set win over the Hiroshima Thunders, capping a weekend of major movement across the standings. Defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka also rose to the top of the table, edging Osaka Bluteon by one point.
Hiroshima opened with a 3-1 win Saturday behind captain Yudai Arai’s 21 points, but Sakai answered with a 3-2 upset led by Tommaso Rinaldi and Cooper Robinson. The victory pushed Sakai to ninth at 3-11, while Hiroshima moved to fifth.
Voreas Hokkaido also made strides upward with back-to-back road wins over Nagano, including a dramatic 3-2 comeback on Sunday. Estonian outside Mart Tammearu scored 26 in the victory.
Osaka Bluteon split their series with the Tokyo Great Bears, winning both matches but losing crucial sets that dropped them to second place. Suntory Sunbirds surged into first with consecutive straight-set wins over Toray Arrows, who fell to the bottom.
In the weekend’s most anticipated matchup, JTEKT Stings Aichi claimed two 3-1 home wins over Wolfdogs Nagoya. American outside Torey DeFalco paced both victories, lifting JTEKT Stings to third in the standings.
